
Glass L 



Book ^Iia5 






63d Congress) 
3d Session ) 



SENATE 



(Do 

1 > 



CUMENT 

No. 992 



AUGUSTUS O. BACON 

(Late a Senator from Georgia) 

MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED IN THE 

SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OF THE UNITED STATES 

-U.S. SIXTY-THIRD CONGRESS 
THIRD SESSION 



/*3 



Proceedings in the Senate 
December 17, 1914 



Proceedings in the House 
February 21, 1915 



PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PRINTING 




/f~Zl*G'L<i 



WASHINGTON 
1915 







D. of D. 
NOV £9 1915 



£ 

N 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Page. 

Proceedings in the Senate 5-66 

Prayer by Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, D. D 6 

Funeral in the Senate Chamber 11 

Prayer by Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, D. D 12 

Episcopal service by the Rt. Rev. Alfred Harding, 

D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Washington 14 

Condolences 15 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Hoke Smith, of Georgia 21 

Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts 30 

Mr. William J. Stone, of Missouri 34 

Mr. Knute Nelson, of Minnesota 37 

Mr. Lee S. Overman, of North Carolina 43 

Mr. James A. O'Gorman, of New York 48 

Mr. Benjamin R. Tillman, of South Carolina 51 

Mr. Jacob H. Gallinger, of New Hampshire 58 

Mr. Thomas W. Hardwick, of Georgia 61 

Proceedings in the House 67-146 

Prayer by Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D 68, 73 

Memorial addresses by — 

Mr. Charles L. Bartlett, of Georgia 77 

Mr. William C. Adamson, of Georgia 84 

Tribute of John T. Boifeuillet, Esq 85 

Mr. Richard Wayne Parker, of New Jersey 101 

Mr. Gordon Lee, of Georgia 103 

Mr. James R. Mann, of Illinois 107 

Mr. Scott Ferris, of Oklahoma 109 

Mr. Charles G. Edwards, of Georgia 114 

Mr. Dudley M. Hughes, of Georgia 118 

Mr. Henry Vollmer, of Iowa 122 

Mr. William Schley Howard, of Georgia 127 

Mr. Charles R. Crisp, of Georgia 128 

Mr. Frank Park, of Georgia 133 

Mr. Carl Vinson, of Georgia 139 

Mr. Thomas M. Bell, of Georgia 144 

Death of Senator Bacon 147 

Proclamation by the governor of Georgia 157 

Funeral services in Washington, D. C 159 

Body in state at Atlanta, Ga 165 

Burial at Macon, Ga 170 

Tributes 173 



[3] 




HON. AUGUSTUS O.BACON 



DEATH OF HON. AUGUSTUS OCTAVIUS BACON 



Proceedings in the Senate 

Saturday, February Ik, 191k. 

Mr. Overman. Mr. President, in the absence of the 
Senator from Georgia [Mr. Smith], it becomes my pain- 
ful duty to announce to the Senate the death of Senator 
Bacon at half past 1 o'clock this afternoon in this city. 

The sudden passing away of this great Senator, who 
came to this Chamber with all the honors which his 
native State could confer upon him, and who repaid that 
trust by his long, honorable, and illustrious career in 
this body, is an irreparable loss not only to the Senate 
and to his beloved State but also to the country at large. 

I send to the desk resolutions which I ask may be read. 

The Vice President. The resolutions submitted by the 
Senator from North Carolina will be read. 

The resolutions were read, considered by unanimous 
consent, and unanimously agreed to, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. Augustus O. Bacon, late a Senator from the 
State of Georgia. 

Resolved, That a committee of 14 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President to take order for superintending the funeral of 
Mr. Bacon. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Bepresentatives. 

Mr. Overman. Mr. President, as a further mark of re- 
spect to the memory of the distinguished Senator, I move 
that the Senate adjourn. 

[5] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 2 
o'clock and 45 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
Monday, February 16, 1914, at 12 o'clock meridian. 

Monday, February 16, 191b. 
The Chaplain, Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

Almighty God, we come into Thy presence this morn- 
ing in the midst of a great sorrow that has fallen upon 
our hearts and upon this great Nation. Thou hast called 
to his reward one who has stood for the best in our 
national life, whom Thou didst permit to represent a 
great State, and whom Thou didst call into a place of 
leadership among the people. 

We remember Thy goodness in giving to us this great 
man whose life was dedicated to the cause of human 
brotherhood, whose spirit was lifted in reverence to the 
Deity, the great Father. We bless Thee for his influence 
upon us as a Nation, and that to-day we feel in the midst 
of our loss that God Himself stands so near to us, holding 
us in the hollow of His hand, that He will still guide us 
and give to us leaders who are men after His own heart. 

We pray that the loss which has come to us with its 
sorrow may chasten and refine our spirits that we may 
be better prepared for all the duties of life, and pre- 
pared at last when all the fleeting shadow of this life has 
passed from us, to enter into the presence of our God 
and stand the test of the eternal world. For Christ's sake. 
Amen. 

The Secretary proceeded to read the Journal of the 
proceedings of Saturday last when, on request of Mr. 
Gallinger and by unanimous consent, the further reading 
was dispensed with and the Journal was approved. 

[6] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



The Vice President. In compliance with the resolution 
adopted on Saturday, the Chair appoints as the commit- 
tee to take order for superintending the funeral of Sena- 
tor Bacon Mr. Smith of Georgia, Mr. Tillman, Mr. Over- 
man, Mr. Chilton, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Pomerene, Mr. 
Thomas 3 Mr. O'Gorman, Mr. Vardaman, Mr. Gallinger, 
Mr. Root, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Brandegee, and Mr. Page. 

Mr. Kern. I move that when the Senate adjourns to-day 
it be to meet to-morrow at 12 o'clock and 45 minutes p. m. 

The motion was agreed to. 

Mr. Kern submitted the following resolutions (S. Res. 
274), which were read, considered by unanimous consent, 
and unanimously agreed to: 

Resolved, That the committee of 14 Senators appointed by the 
Vice President under the resolution of the Senate of February 14, 
1914, shall take order for superintending the funeral of Mr. Bacon 
in the Senate Chamber at 1 o'clock p. m. on Tuesday, February 
17, instant, and that the Senate will attend the same. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the remains of Mr. 
Bacon be removed from Washington to Macon, Ga., in charge of 
the Sergeant at Arms, attended by the committee, who shall have 
full power to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these proceedings to 
the House of Representatives and invite the House of Representa- 
tives to attend the funeral in the Senate Chamber and to appoint a 
committee to act with the committee of the Senate. 

Resolved, That invitations be extended to the President of the 
United States and the members of his Cabinet, the Chief Justice 
and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
the Diplomatic Corps (through the Secretary of State), the Ad- 
miral of the Navy, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Regents 
and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, to attend the funeral 
in the Senate Chamber. 

Mr. Kern. Mr. President, I offer a resolution and ask 
for its adoption. 

The Vice President. The resolution will be read. 

[7] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

The resolution was read and unanimously agreed to, 
as follows : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

The Senate thereupon (at 12 o'clock and 10 minutes 
p. m.) adjourned until to-morrow, Tuesday, February 17, 
1914, at 12.45 p. m. 



[8] 



Jrt % Bmtxt? of % Unttrb BtnteB, 



&cfou*xvy 16, 1914. 

UrSfllttttl, l&hcit i-n/uitaiiow* &e ecetevtbeo 
to t&e 2ke>i6e-ttt of tfvo ^(Vtitcb State* anb 
tfte wew&e^ of hio Qa&i+v&t, t&e Cftief ^notice 
a-nb flU;>octatc ^ju^tice* of the St^pt^-me Q-o-uz-t 
of tfvo ^H/Miteo State*, tfW 1>iptotuatic (Botp* 
(tJWovtcjfv t&e Secreta^ of State), the Sbmizai 
of tke 9lav^, t1Ye efvicf of Staff of tJW dz-m^, 
avi-b tfVe cHeaevi.t> a-nb Sec^etac^ of tfve SmitlV- 
>owiai^ eivt^tt-tu-tkHv, to atten-o t&e fu-n-ezat of 

tfW Biouurablr Augustus (§. Hanm, fate a 

Se-watot- from the State of (^cozaia, iw tft-e 
Se-H-ate Gfva'm&et, at 1 o'ofocIV p. ^m., *d-u-c*oa^f, 
cFe(Wua?Hi 17, 1914. 

£ltte>t : 




Sectetat.'u. 



[9] 



(§vhtr of Btrrtxtta at tlje 3fatt?ral 



of 



Augustus CD- Sarou, 



Hat* a Senator of Hjp Intttb &fat*s, from tljt &iate of Georgia. 



The Senate will meet at i o'clock p. m., Tuesday, February the seven- 
teenth, Nineteen Hundred and Fourteen. 

The body of the late Senator AUGUSTUS O. BACON will be placed 
in the Senate Chamber prior to the assembling of the Senate. 

The President of the United States and his Cabinet, the Chief Justice 
and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court, the Diplomatic Corps, the 
Members of the House of Representatives, the Admiral of the Navy, the 
Chief of Staff of the Army, and the Regents and Secretary of the Smith- 
sonian Institution have been invited to attend the Services in the Chamber, 
and will occupy the seats on the floor of the Senate assigned them by the 
Sergeant at Arms. 

The President and his Cabinet will meet in the President's Room. 

The Supreme Court will meet in the Supreme Court Room. 

The Diplomatic Corps, the Admiral of the Navy, the Chief of Staff of 
the Army, and the Regents and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 
will meet in the Senate Reception Room. 

The Committee of Arrangements will meet in the Marble Room. 

The Vice President's Room will be reserved for the members of the 
family of the late Senator and the officiating clergy, whence they will be 
escorted to seats on the Senate floor. 

Seats will be reserved for those entitled to them upon the floor, to 
which they will be shown by the attaches of the Senate. 

Upon the announcement of the Vice President of the United States, the 
Clergy will conduct the funeral ceremonies. 

All the Senate Galleries will be reserved for this occasion, admission 
being by special cards only. 



[10] 



Funeral in the Senate Chamber 

Tuesday, February 17, 191k. 
The Vice President called the Senate to order at 12 
o'clock and 45 minutes p. m. and said : 

By unanimous consent, the reading of the Journal of 
yesterday's proceedings will be dispensed with. The 
Senate will receive a message from the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by J. C. 
South, its Chief Clerk, transmitted to the Senate resolu- 
tions of the House on the death of Hon. Augustus O. 
Bacon, late a Senator from the State of Georgia. 

The message also announced that the Speaker of the 
House had appointed Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Adamson, Mr. 
Hardwick, Mr. Bell of Georgia, Mr. Lee of Georgia, Mr. 
Edwards, Mr. Hughes of Georgia, Mr. Tribble, Mr. 
Howard, Mr. Crisp, Mr. Walker, Mr. Park, Mr. Ferris, 
Mr. Mann, Mr. Payne, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Anthony, Mr. 
Willis, Mr. Dyer, and Mr. Prouty as the committee on the 
part of the House to accompany the remains of the 
deceased Senator to the State of Georgia. 

The message further announced that the House ac- 
cepts the invitation of the Senate extended to the Speaker 
and the Members of the House of Representatives to 
attend in the Senate Chamber the funeral services of 
Hon. Augustus 0. Bacon, late a Senator of the United 
States from the State of Georgia. 

At 12 o'clock and 48 minutes p. m. the committee of 
arrangements of the two Houses entered the Chamber. 

At 12 o'clock and 50 minutes p. m. the Speaker and 
Members of the House of Representatives were an- 

[11] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

nounced. The Speaker was escorted to a seat on the left 
of the Vice President, and the Members of the House 
were shown to seats on the floor provided for them. 

The ambassadors of and ministers from foreign coun- 
tries, the Chief Justice of the United States, and the 
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, the members of the Cabinet of the President of 
the United States, the Chief of Staff of the Army, and the 
Regents and Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 
were announced, respectively, and shown to the seats 
assigned them. 

The members of the family of the late Senator were 
escorted to seats reserved for them. 

The Vice President. Senators, the hour has arrived at 
which, in accordance with the order of the Senate, the 
final ceremonies over the body of Augustus Octavius 
Bacon, late a Senator from Georgia and an unusually 
distinguished Member of this body, are to be observed. 

In conformity with custom and in token of our common 
faith, the Chaplain of the Senate will offer prayer to God 
the Father, God the Redeemer, and God the Comforter. 

Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, D. D., the Chaplain of the 
Senate, offered the following prayer : 

Almighty God, in the midst of the darkening shadows 
of life's great mystery we turn our faces toward Thee. 
Between the dark mount of sorrow and the bright moun- 
tain of prayer we would come where only the voice of 
God is heard. The heaven of heavens can not contain 
Thee, much less this house of our ambitions and dreams. 
We may not compass Thee with our thought of life, but 
we know by the instinct of love and the far-reaching 
grasp of faith that Thou has made us for an infinite 
purpose. It is not Thy will that we should perish utterly. 
Thou art the God of our fathers, and Thou art not the 



[12] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



God of the dead but of the living. Our birth is but a 
sleep and a forgetting; our home is with Thee. 

Do Thou, we beseech Thee, speak unto us this day, 
that we may live. We bless Thee that Thou hast not 
left Thyself without a witness among men. Thy hand 
has been laid upon mighty men in church and state, and 
Thou hast thrust them out to guide us into the fuller life. 

We bless Thee for the life and work of this great man. 
We praise Thee that the hand of death was not laid upon 
him until he had spoken his message to the world and 
had sent forth the influence of a devoted life into the 
soul of our Nation. 

Endowed with a physical form which was animated by 
a presence full of the repose of self-mastery, confident 
through a rich and varied scholarship, inflexible by rea- 
son of a consecrated will, dominant with a purpose of 
lofty aim, he has faced and fulfilled the great demands 
of a faithful Senator. Sustained by a faith in the good- 
ness of Thy plan and inspired by a zeal for peace for the 
world, he has measured up to the standard of Christian 
leadership. 

But now, God, what issues lie back of a life like 
this? Thy call to-day is to living men. With the light 
breaking about us at the dawn of a new day we invoke 
Thy continued blessing. Still lay Thy hand upon mighty 
leaders among us. Bless those who have been called to 
places of authority and power among us. May their 
authority be justified by divine wisdom and their power 
sanctified by Thy grace. 

Make us a Christian Nation, with no other message than 
that of peace and good will among men. Come to all 
hearts that sorrow. With the tender touch of infinite 
sympathy and pity do Thou heal the broken hearted. 
Let the vision of that one far-off divine event cheer and 
sustain the weary pilgrim of the night. Hasten the day 



[13] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



of Thy coming. We wait upon Thee through the revela- 
tion of the Son of God, and even in this hour of sadness 
we may sound the paean of Christian victory, " But thanks 
be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." Unto Him be power, and glory, and 
dominion forever. Amen. 

Right Rev. Alfred Harding, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of 
Washington, read portions of the burial service of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, and also recited the Apos- 
tle's Creed and the hymn beginning : 

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide; 

The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. 

Then followed appropriate collects from the Book of 
Common Prayer. 

The benediction was pronounced by the Chaplain of 
the Senate. 

The Vice President. Into the loving hands of the com- 
mittees of Congress and the officers of the Senate we con- 
sign the mortal body of our well-beloved Senator to be 
by them conveyed to his home in the State of Georgia, 
there to be deposited in its final resting place. May his 
labors in the cause of constitutional liberty long bless the 
Republic. The committee of arrangements, conducted 
by the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, will escort the 
remains of the deceased Senator from the Chamber to 
the Union Station and from thence to the place of burial 
in the State of Georgia. The guests of the Senate will 
depart in the inverse order of their entrance. 

The invited guests having retired from the Chamber, 

Mr. Kern. Mr. President, I move that the Senate do now 
adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to; and (at 1 
o'clock and 32 minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned until 
to-morrow, February 18, 1914, at 12 o'clock meridian. 

[14] 



Friday, February 20, 19U. 

The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
a communication from the Counselor of the State Depart- 
ment, transmitting a translation of a note from the min- 
ister of Guatemala at Washington relative to the death 
of the late Senator Bacon. The communication and 
accompanying note will be printed in the Record and 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. 

The communications are as follows: 

Department of State, 
Washington, February 19, 191k. 
The Hon. Thomas R. Marshall, 

Vice President of the United States of America. 
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a translation of a 
note from the minister of Guatemala at Washington, conveying to 
the department his Government's condolences and his own in 
connection with the death of the Hon. Augustus Octavius Bacon, 
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United 
States Senate. I have the honor to be, sir, 
Your obedient servant, 

J. B. Moore, Counselor. 
(For the Secretary of State.) 

[Translation] 

Legation of Guatemala, 

Washington, February 16, 191k. 
The most excellent Mr. William Jennings Bryan, 

Secretary of State of the United States of America. 
Mr. Secretary of State: With the deepest and most sincere 
sorrow I have heard the news of the death of the Hon. Augustus 
Octavius Bacon, Senator, chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, whose personality was given eminence by his attain- 
ments, sense of justice, and the great services rendered to his 
country in various lines, and particularly in the most important 

[15] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



branch in which his special learning always made him a real 
authority. 

I beg your excellency to accept the condolence which I have 
the honor to present to the American Government in behalf of 
my Government for such an irreparable loss, and I shall be 
grateful if, together with the expression of these sentiments, your 
excellency will deign also to accept those which I beg leave per- 
sonally to offer as a tribute to the memory of the honorable 
Senator Bacon, together with the deepest sympathy in the mis- 
fortune that has befallen us. 

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your excellency 
the assurances of my highest and most respectful consideration. 

Joaquin Mendez. 

The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
a letter from the minister of Peru, expressing condolence 
on the death of the late Senator Bacon, which will be 
printed in the Record and referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations. 

The letter is as follows: 

Peruvian Legation, 

Washington, D. C. 

Federico Alfonso Pezet, minister of Peru, expresses to the Vice 
President of the United States, and through him to the Senate 
of the United States, his most sincere condolence on the occa- 
sion of the sad demise of the Hon. Augustus 0. Bacon, chairman 
of the Foreign Relations Committee, and regrets that on account 
of his having been absent from the city he was unable to be 
present at the funeral services of the late Senator. 

February 19, 1914. 

Tuesday, February 24, 19U. 
The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
a note from the minister of Venezuela expressing regret 
at his inability to be present at the funeral services of the 
late Senator Bacon, which will be printed in the Record 
and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. 



[16] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



The letter is as follows : 

Legacion de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela, 

Washington, D. C. 

P. E. Rojas, minister from Venezuela, presents his respects to 
Mr. James M. Baker, Secretary of the Senate, and expresses his 
sincere regrets that, due to an indisposition in his health, he 
was unable to be present at the funeral services of the honorable 
Senator Augustus O. Bacon, distinguished chairman of the Senate 
Committee on Foreign Relations. 

The minister from Venezuela begs to state that he presented 
his regrets verbally yesterday through the Chief Clerk of the 
Department of State. 

February 18, 1914. 



Friday, February 27, 191k. 

The Vice President. The Chair lays before the Senate 
a communication from the general secretary of the Cham- 
ber of Commerce of Macon, Ga., inclosing resolutions 
adopted by the board of directors of the chamber of 
commerce upon the death of the late Senator Bacon, 
which will be printed in the Record and referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations. 

The communication and accompanying resolutions are 
as follows: 



Chamber of Commerce, 
Macon, Ga., February 2b, 191k. 
Hon. Thomas Marshall, 

Vice President and President of the Senate, 

Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: Inclosed please find set of resolutions passed by our 
board of directors of the chamber of commerce upon the death 
of our honorable citizen, Senator A. 0. Bacon. 
Yours, very truly, 

E. H. Hyman, General Secretary. 

87634°— 15 2 [17] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Resolutions 

Whereas it hath pleased God in His infinite wisdom to take from 
us our honored citizen, Augustus 0. Bacon: Be it 
Resolved, That in his death the Nation has lost one of its most 
distinguished and faithful servants, the United States Senate one 
of its leading Members, the State of Georgia its first citizen, and 
the city of Macon a most loyal friend. 

Resolved, That the members of the chamber of commerce attend 
his funeral in a body, and that the citizens of Macon be requested 
to dispense with business during the funeral hour; and be it 
further 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family, 
a copy to the President of the United States, a copy to the Presi- 
dent of the Senate, and a copy be furnished to the Associated 
Press. 

Macon Chamber of Commerce, 
[seal.] W. E. Dunwody, President. 

Attest: 

E. H. Hyman, General Secretary. 

Monday, July 20, 191k. 

Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, I desire to give 
notice that on Tuesday, December 8, immediately after 
the routine morning business, I shall ask the Senate to 
consider resolutions in commemoration of the life, char- 
acter, and public services of my late colleague, Senator 
A. 0. Bacon. I have placed the time so far ahead at the 
request of Senators who desire to pay tribute to the life 
and distinguished services of our late colleague, and who 
wish this time to do so. 

Mr. Brandegee. Mr. President, there was so much con- 
fusion in the Chamber I could not hear the date suggested 
by the Senator from Georgia. 

Mr. Smith of Georgia. Tuesday, December 8. As I 
stated, there are Senators who can not be here this sum- 
mer who especially desire to take part in the exercises, 
and whom I know Senator Bacon would have been 
pleased to have had take part. 

[18] 



Proceedings in the Senate 



Monday, December 7, 191k. 
Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, during the last 
session of Congress I gave notice that on to-morrow I 
would bring to the attention of the Senate resolutions 
commemorative of the life and services of my late col- 
league, Hon. Augustus O. Bacon. As the message of the 
President will be delivered to-morrow and for other rea- 
sons I desire to change the time by postponing it until 
Thursday, December 17, immediately after the close of 
the morning business. 

Wednesday, December 17, 191k. 

Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, in pursuance of 
the notice heretofore given by me, I offer the resolutions 
which I send to the desk and ask for their adoption. 

The Vice President. The Senator from Georgia submits 
resolutions, which the Secretary will read. 

The resolutions (S. Res. 503) were read, considered by 
unanimous consent, and unanimously agreed to, as 
follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of the Hon. Augustus Octavius Bacon, late a Senator 
from the State of Georgia. 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased the business of the Senate be now suspended to enable 
his associates to pay proper tribute to his high character and 
distinguished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy 
thereof to the family of the deceased. 

The Vice President. Under the second resolution the 
Senate will proceed with the memorial services touching 
the character and high standing of the late Hon. Augustus 
0. Bacon. 



[19] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 

Mr. President: It is with consciousness of a great loss 
that I ask the Senate to consider the high character and 
distinguished public service of Augustus Octavius Bacon. 
To say that by his death the Senate lost one of its ablest 
and most experienced Members feebly expresses the 
truth. 

He came to the Senate splendidly prepared for the 
work. He was, when elected, a business man of unusual 
experience, an able lawyer, and a trained legislator and 
parliamentarian. 

He served in the Senate 19 years. During his service 
here he was tirelessly industrious; he realized that the 
entire business of the Nation, as well as the legislative 
hopes of the people, were covered by the measures con- 
sidered by the Congress, and that the smaller size of the 
Senate gave opportunity for each Senator to contribute 
toward perfecting each measure with no limitation other 
than his ability and his capacity for labor. 

Senator Bacon gave to the duties of the Senate all of 
his ability and all of his time. Service as a Senator was 
the thought and the joy of his life. Accurate and pains- 
taking by nature and by training, he brought to the 
service a devotion rarely equalled — never excelled. 

Senator Bacon was born October 20, 1839, in Bryan 
County, Ga., although the home of his parents was 
Liberty County. His ancestors upon one line were among 
the earliest settlers of Virginia. Upon another they were 

[21] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



with the colony of Puritans who settled in Dorchester, 
Mass., in 1630. Some of the latter removed to Georgia 
in 1753 and founded what was known as the Midway 
Colony, afterwards called Liberty County. On both lines 
his ancestors were soldiers and officers in the Revolu- 
tionary Army. His father died before his birth, and his 
mother died before he was a year old. His parents are 
buried in the cemetery of the Midway Church, and he 
was born in the atmosphere of this church. 

Liberty County, Ga., was the home of two signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, Lyman Hall and But- 
ton Gwinnett. Midway Church had among its pastors 
most distinguished men, among others Dr. J. S. K. 
Axson, grandfather of the wife of President Wilson, and 
Dr. Abiel Holmes, the father of Dr. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes and the grandfather of Mr. Justice Holmes. The 
mother of Theodore Roosevelt, who was the grand- 
daughter of Gen. Daniel Stewart, was also a member of 
Midway Church. Midway Colony, or Liberty County, 
was the birthplace of John and Joseph Le Conte, the 
celebrated scientists. 

Before he was one year old Senator Bacon was 
adopted by his grandmother. Under her guardianship 
he was carefully trained and received a good elementary 
education. At the age of 16 he entered the University of 
Georgia. He graduated from the collegiate department 
in 1859, receiving the degree of bachelor of arts. The 
following year he received from the institution the de- 
gree of bachelor of laws, having been a member of the 
first law class graduated by that university. He was a 
trustee of the University of Georgia at the time of his 
death and had been a trustee for many years. Few of his 
attachments were stronger than that which tied him to 
the State university. The University of Georgia succes- 
sively conferred upon him the degree of bachelor of 

[22] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 



arts, bachelor of laws, master of arts, and doctor of 
laws, the latter degree having been conferred in 1909. 
He selected Atlanta, Ga., as the place in which to begin 
the practice of his profession. 

Before the end of 12 months thereafter he joined the 
Confederate Army and was made adjutant of the Ninth 
Georgia Regiment, in which position he served in Vir- 
ginia during the campaigns of 1861 and 1862. He was 
afterwards commissioned as captain in the provisional 
army of the Confederate States and assigned to general 
staff duty. He was married on April 19 a 1864, to Miss 
Virginia Lamar, in Macon, Ga. 

At the close of the war he was mustered out of service 
with the rank of captain. He then renewed his legal 
studies and began practicing law in Macon, Ga. 

Senator Bacon combined as a lawyer to an unusual 
degree ability to present with power a client's case to 
judges or to juries. He added to his thorough knowl- 
edge of law capacity as a business man, thus rendering 
his service to his client of unusual value. His success at 
the bar was almost immediate, and so long as he gave 
himself to his profession he enjoyed a lucrative practice 
and a most distinguished position among his legal asso- 
ciates. 

For a number of years he was employed in practically 
every important case tried in middle Georgia, yet so 
great was his industry that in addition to his law practice 
and his legislative services he found time to prepare and 
publish in two volumes a digest of the supreme court 
decisions found in the first 40 volumes of the Georgia 
Reports, and so thoroughly and accurately did he do this 
work his volumes at once found space in the libraries of 
the lawyers of the State. 

In 1868, when Mr. Bacon was 28 years old, he was 
nominated by the State Democratic convention for presi- 

[23] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

dential elector. Two years afterwards he was elected a 
member of the Georgia House of Representatives. He 
was reelected to that body continuously for a period of 
12 years, and was subsequently again elected for a term 
of 2 years. He was speaker pro tempore for 2 years 
and speaker for 8 years. In 1883 he was a candidate 
for the governorship of his State, and in the Democratic 
convention he lacked but one vote of receiving the nomi- 
nation, when a nomination would have assured his elec- 
tion. He was several times a member of the State Demo- 
cratic conventions of his State, was chairman of the con- 
vention in 1880, and was delegate from the State at large 
to the Democratic national convention at Chicago in 1884. 
In 1894 he was elected to the United States Senate by 
the Georgia Legislature. In 1900 he was nominated at a 
Democratic State primary for the Senate, and was after- 
wards unanimously elected to the Senate by the legis- 
lature, composed of Democrats, Republicans, and Popu- 
lists. In 1906 he was again indorsed in the State Demo- 
cratic primary, having no opposition, and was again 
unanimously elected to a third term in the Senate. He 
was the first Georgian to be elected to a third consecutive 
full term in the United States Senate. In 1912 he was 
again renominated in the State Democratic primary. 
Before the legislature met the amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the United States requiring the election of Sena- 
tors by the people had become effective. When the legis- 
lature met it promptly provided machinery for the elec- 
tion of a Senator by the people. An election was called 
and Senator Bacon had the distinction of being the first 
Member of the United States Senate elected by the people 
under the operation of the seventeenth amendment to 
the Constitution of the United States. At the time of his 
death he had served but one year of his fourth term as 
United States Senator. 

[24] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 



Senator Bacon was physically strong and vigorous, the 
result of his simple and abstemious life and habits. He 
inherited a naturally strong mentality from his ancestors, 
and from his earliest youth until his death he assiduously 
cultivated and strengthened his natural mental powers. 
He was prepared for every line of work which came 
before the Senate, and, while he enjoyed it all, it is 
probably true that problems connected with our foreign 
relations were to him the most interesting. He was at 
the time of his death a member of the Committees on the 
Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Rules, Railroads, Private 
Land Claims, and Expenditures in the Post Office De- 
partment. He was a member of the Judiciary Committee 
for 17 years, of the Foreign Relations Committee for 15 
years, and of the Committee on Rules for 13 years. 

For many years he had been ranking Democratic 
member on each of these committees, while his party 
was in the minority in the Senate, and upon the Demo- 
cratic reorganization of the Senate in March, 1913, he 
became chairman of the powerful Committee on For- 
eign Relations, for which he was so well fitted, and 
which position he preferred to any in the Senate. 

Though the Republicans were in the majority in the 
Senate and Judge Archbald was himself a Republican, 
Senator Bacon was unanimously chosen to preside over 
the Archbald court of impeachment — a splendid tribute 
to his ability and fairness. The hearing lasted continu- 
ously during several weeks, and there were 11 active 
lawyers representing the two sides, yet all of Senator 
Bacon's rulings at this trial were sustained. 

He considered punctuality in his attendance upon the 
sessions of the Senate as one of his highest duties. In a 
career of practically 19 years he was never absent a day 
from the Senate on account of either his personal busi- 



[25] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

ness or his pleasure. The few times that he was absent 
were due to providential causes solely. 

He had a deep concern for the proprieties of the 
Senate and held its traditions in high reverence. He was 
a vigilant guard and an able defender of the Constitution 
and was zealous in defending State rights. 

He was a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution and 
took a deep interest in its affairs. 

As a speaker he was most effective on account of his 
clear statements and convincing logic. His studious 
habits had developed and strengthened his reasoning 
powers and gave him a wide command of language. He 
seldom delivered a set oration, but was always ready to 
discuss and did discuss the varied subjects which came 
before the Senate, such as constitutional questions, 
treaties, foreign relations generally, the tariff, currency, 
railroad rates, the Panama Canal, representative govern- 
ment, the Philippines, Cuban independence, the relations 
between Congress and the executive departments, State 
rights, the election of Senators by direct vote of the peo- 
ple, education, and agriculture. In fact, he discussed 
practically every important subject that came before 
Congress during his service of about 19 years. He was 
especially strong in debate on constitutional questions 
and matters of foreign relations. 

One of his most notable efforts was in opposition to the 
acquisition of the Philippines. He introduced a resolu- 
tion " declaring the purpose of the United States not 
permanently to retain the islands, but to give the people 
thereof their liberty." In this connection he delivered a 
speech that aroused deep interest in the Senate and 
widely commanded the attention of the public not only 
in this country but abroad. The vote on the resolution 
was a tie, and it was defeated by the vote of the Vice 
President — the first occasion in many years where there 

[26] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 



had been a tie vote in the Senate upon any question and 
upon which a Vice President had voted. 

Senators were much impressed with the strength of his 
argument on the "Relations between Congress and the 
executive departments"; that is, the power of the Senate 
to call for information from executive departments. A 
debate between Senator Bacon and Senator Spooner, of 
Wisconsin, on the constitutional power of the President 
and the Senate in making treaties was of unusual interest 
and attracted widespread attention. Referring to this 
debate, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant editorially com- 
mented as follows : 

Take down an old volume of the Congressional Globe and read 
one of the debates on foreign affairs in which Lewis Cass and 
John M. Clayton were pitted against each other — for instance, 
the debate (famous in its time) on the merits of the Clayton- 
Bulwer treaty. Then take Monday's Congressional Record and 
read the report therein of the debate between Mr. Bacon, of 
Georgia, and Mr. Spooner, of Wisconsin, on the constitutional 
powers of the President and of the Senate in treaty making. It 
would be scant praise to say that the Bacon-Spooner debate is 
the more readable of the two. For intellectual vigor, grip of 
the matter in hand, compactness, and the lucidity of statement, 
brisk alertness in the give and take of dialetic fence, and last, 
but not least, good English, the Bacon-Spooner debate is the abler 
of the two. Daniel Webster would have listened to every word 
of it attentively, with keen interest and pleasure; Calhoun and 
Clay also. 

No Senator took a more active part in debate than Sen- 
ator Bacon when the Dingley tariff bill was before the 
Senate, and later, in 1909, when the Payne-Aldrich tariff 
bill was under discussion. He made strong arguments in 
favor of material reduction of duties on all articles of 
universal and necessary use— embracing the whole range 
of things essential to the comfort, health, and convenience 
of the people. 

[27] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Two speeches by the Senator on the amendment to the 
Constitution providing that Senators be elected by the 
direct vote of the people were powerful appeals in 
behalf of the rights of the States and the preservation of 
white supremacy. 

While considering our foreign relations he was ever 
zealous to maintain the rights of his own country, while 
he was at the same time broad and brave enough to be 
just to other countries. The following resolution of sym- 
pathy was adopted by the Assembly of the Department 
of Santander, Colombia, on the Senator's death: 

Interpreting the patriotic sentiments of the worthy people 
whom it represents, and considering the expression of its sym- 
pathy and appreciation as an act of justice to those who have 
labored or labor for the supreme rights of the country and human- 
ity, it deeply regrets the death of Senator Bacon, who placed his 
highest abilities at the service of Colombia and the weak nations, 
battling for her in the Congress of his country in connection with 
events that took place in Panama. 

Senator Bacon died in Washington during the last ses- 
sion of the Senate. Funeral services were conducted in 
this Hall. When his body reached Georgia it was placed 
in the capitol. Public officials and the people of the State 
did honor to his memory. His body was carried to Macon, 
where he had so long lived, and was followed to the beau- 
tiful cemetery upon the banks of the Ocmulgee by his 
wife, his surviving daughter, his grandchildren, and 
throngs of friends. 

The Legislature of Georgia at its session last summer 
passed a bill proposing an amendment to the constitu- 
tion to create a new county to be called Bacon in honor 
of Senator Bacon, and on November 3 of this year the 
people of the State, at a general election, overwhelmingly 
ratified the amendment. It was a distinct tribute to him 



[28] 



Address of Mr. Smith, of Georgia 



that the county should have been created in his honor so 
soon after his death. 

Senator Bacon was splendidly equipped for service in 
this body. With a lofty sense of the responsibility rest- 
ing upon a Senator, he discharged all the duties of the 
office. He was a great Senator in the broadest meaning 
of the word. He is missed by his colleagues. His place 
will be difficult to fill. 



[29] 



Address of Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 

Mr. President : One of the severest penalties of advanc- 
ing years is found in the loss of old friends, of those with 
whom, we have lived, which accompanies the passing of 
the, 

Daughters of Time, the hypocritic days. 

That these words which I have just spoken are both a 
commonplace and a truism only adds to their sadness. 
But the inevitable partings with friends brought by the 
gathering years are accentuated when the separation 
occurs between those engaged in a common labor or 
service. At every turn of the well-trodden path we look 
in vain for a familiar figure, and each incident of the 
day's work whispers that there is a vacant space by our 
side which never again can be filled. The oncoming 
ranks press forward, but they are not the same, and the 
gap made in the lives of those who survive does not close. 

These thoughts come very keenly home to me when I 
speak of the death of Senator Bacon. For 18 years we 
served here together in the Senate. For 15 years we sat 
facing each other as members of the Committee on For- 
eign Relations, where association is close and constant, 
and where political divisions rarely enter. I saw much 
of him also outside the Capitol, and I met him more 
than once in Europe, for he traveled wisely and widely 
when Congress was not in session. Thus I came to know 
him well. In this way he grew to be a part of my daily 
life. We belonged to different political parties; we had 
been bred in widely different schools of political thought; 



[30] 



Address of Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 

on questions involving party principles we were always 
opposed. Outside of party politics there were many 
matters, many aspects of life and of the conduct of life, 
upon which we agreed and sympathized. We had, as was 
inevitable, frequent clashes in debate, but nothing ever 
affected our personal friendship, which became con- 
stantly closer and more affectionate with the passing of 
the years. 

I think, therefore, that I knew Senator Bacon well and 
felt for him such affection that I can speak of him with 
both knowledge and justice. He came to the Senate with 
a high reputation as a lawyer, as a public man of large 
experience in his own State, and as a master of parlia- 
mentary rules and practice, derived from his service as 
speaker in the Georgia Legislature. He at once took a 
position in the Senate such as is rarely accorded to a new 
Member, and in a very short time was recognized not only 
as a leader on his own side but as a leader in the Senate. 
This was due not merely or chiefly to his ability or to his 
industry, or to his constant and unwearying attendance 
at the daily sessions and his watchfulness in regard to 
legislation, but to the fact that from the day he took the 
oath of office he was with all his strength and all his mind 
a Senator of the United States in the largest and highest 
sense. He felt a great pride in the Senate as a body. He 
was sensitive as to its rights and jealous of its constitu- 
tional prerogatives. He was not ready to suffer any detri- 
ment to come to either. It is owing to Senators like Sena- 
tor Bacon that the Senate has held throughout our his- 
tory the place and power in our Government which belong 
to it, and when Senators become indifferent to the posi- 
tion of the body to which they belong all the power and 
influence so long possessed by the Senate in our Govern- 
ment will fade away. 



[31] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Senator Bacon took an especial interest in all legal 
questions and in all questions affecting our foreign rela- 
tions, upon which, owing to his large experience and his 
familiarity with other countries, both through reading 
and travel, he was peculiarly qualified to speak with 
authority. 

We all recognize the loss caused by the death of Sena- 
tor Bacon to the public service of the country, to his 
State, and, above all, to the Senate. But the feeling that 
is uppermost in the hearts of those who served with him 
here for so many years is one of personal sorrow. He 
was a true and loyal friend when his friendship had once 
been given. He was a thorough gentleman, as incapable 
of a mean or low action as he was incapable, even in the 
asperities of heated debate, of mean insinuation or of a 
low personal fling at an opponent. He was kindly and 
affectionate always. More sorrows had fallen to his lot 
than is the usual portion of all who live out the term of 
years allotted by the Psalmist, but he faced his griefs and 
trials with a manly, cheerful courage, very pathetic to 
those who knew him well. Honored and mourned by his 
State and by the Nation, he leaves to us a gracious, happy 
memory of one who was an affectionate friend and an 
able and faithful servant of his country. 

There is abundant cause here for both public and pri- 
vate sorrow. There is no place for lamentation. Senator 
Bacon died full of years and honors, to use our consecrated 
phrase. In war and peace he had tasted of the great emo- 
tions which make life worth living. He had lived the life 
of his time, and he died in service, as he would have 
wished to die. Think how much that meant to him, how 
much it means to us. The waiting in helpless idleness 
for the inevitable close of all things earthly, the weary 
hours of the sick room, the " set, gray life and apathetic 



[32] 



Address of Mr. Lodge, of Massachusetts 

end," all these were spared to him. It is better to wear 
out than — 

* * to hang 
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail, 
In monumental mockery. 

To him, most fortunate, it was given to say, as it is 
permitted to so few to say when the years have gathered 
thick in serried ranks behind them : 

Blow, wind! come, wrack! 

At least we'll die with harness on our back. 



87634°— 15 3 [33] 



Address of Mr. Stone, of Missouri 

Mr. President : Death is so full of solemn mystery that 
I am prone to stand silent in its presence. Before the 
specter of death even thought itself is hesitant, and like 
unto a tired bird would fold its wings; and speech, how- 
ever phrased, falls upon my ear like a note sounded from 
a chord out of tune. My speech, therefore, shall be 
characterized by brevity. 

On Sunday last I attended the funeral services held in 
the Hall of the House in memory of Representative 
Payne, of New York. To-day we are assembled in the 
Senate Chamber to pay tribute to Senator Bacon, of 
Georgia. Both were among the most conspicuous and 
potential American public men of our day. They lived 
and wrought in the same period, and largely in the same 
arena. Death came to them in the same way, and not 
many moons apart. Their lives, distinguished by many 
important and useful services to their country and man- 
kind, were snuffed out, almost without warning, as sud- 
denly and quickly as a flash, which for a moment lights 
some far-off summer cloud, sinks into darkness and dis- 
appears. 

Oh, the mighty mystery of it, and with what reveren- 
tial awe the human mind contemplates this swift transi- 
tion from life to death ! And yet full well we know that 
after all and at best a single life is but a speck on the 
unfolding scroll of time, and but little more than that on 
the record of human experiences and history. This is as 
well true of those we call great as of those the least 
known. The span of life is so little — so insignificant — 
that it can hardly be counted as a separate space in the 

[34] 



Address of Mr. Stone, of Missouri 



endless course of time. In truth, those accounted great — 
those who escape oblivion — come and go like all their 
kind of whatever degree, and the time comes in after 
years when the world no longer remembers the real great 
man as he was, as his contemporaries knew him, but 
remembers only his deeds, and remembers his deeds, if 
at all, only because of their influence and effect on the 
progress of the world and the fortunes of the human race. 

This thought, Mr. President, that in time one will be 
remembered only for his deeds, should be a high and 
noble inspiration to every man to so live and strive that 
the sum of his life work may exert some influence for 
good upon the everlasting struggle of mankind for better 
things. 

Augustus 0. Bacon was full to the brim with this in- 
spiration. I shall not here trace the history of his career. 
That can be better done by the Senators from his own 
State, so long and intimately associated with him in pri- 
vate and in public life, or perhaps by some other friend 
who may care to speak with greater particularity. For 
me it is sufficient to speak in simpler vein — sufficient 
merely to avow my firm belief in his splendid courage 
and superb integrity. His ideals were high; his regard 
for any service he undertook was scrupulous; his devo- 
tion to duty was passionate and unflagging; his patriot- 
ism, wrought into his very life, flamed like a torch whose 
light fell upon his whole country and all its people. He 
loved books and music; he was traveler and scholar; he 
was soldier and statesman; he was a Christian and a 
gentleman. What more need be said? What more, in- 
deed, can be said " to give the world assurance of a 
man"? 

He will be sadly missed from our council and in our 
labors; and especially in this time of tremendous inter- 
national stress, when we stand in ever-increasing need of 



[35] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

learning, sagacity, and guidance, are we keenly conscious 
of our loss. But so it is, and it boots naught to lament. 
His life was well rounded, and more nearly reached the 
full limit of its possibilities than fate or fortune allows 
to most men. If, unlike Cardinal Wolsey, he did not 
sound all the depths and shoals of fame, he did sound 
many of them without wreck; and if he did not scale the 
highest peak, he did climb some of the loftiest without 
falling. Maybe it is better for him as it is. His work — 
constructive, upbuilding, and beneficent — has left an in- 
fluence for good which will make his name a precious 
memory. His stalwart form is crumbling into dust, but 
his spirit, his soul, has entered upon new and nobler 
activities in a higher and infinitely better sphere. How 
do I know? Only because I still believe in the enternal 
Triune God my mother told me about as I knelt at her 
knees — that sweet and sacred altar of my childhood faith. 



[36] 



Address of Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota 

Mr. President: When Senator Bacon passed away to 
his final rest on the 14th of February, 1914, in the seventy- 
fifth year of his age and in the maturity of his power, the 
Senate lost in him one of its strongest, ablest, and most 
efficient Members, one to whom we could always look 
for valuable advice, information, and instruction. Gifted 
by nature with a vigorous intellect, which he developed 
and fortified by a broad and liberal education, he was 
well equipped in his youth for the active and strenuous 
duties of life. What happened to so many young and 
promising men, North and South, on the eve of the great 
struggle which began in 1861 happened to him. Though 
educated and trained for the pursuits of peace, yet his 
first active and pronounced work was that of war, that 
of an officer in the Confederate Army, in which he proved 
himself an able, courageous, and efficient officer, faithful 
to the end to the cause which he had espoused. In 1861, 
from the heights back of Arlington, in his Confederate 
uniform, he beheld the dome of that Capitol which he 
entered as a United States Senator in 1895. The war had 
exhausted and impoverished the South and the problem 
of reconstruction retarded to some extent the work of 
recuperation. It was not altogether an easy task for the 
returning soldiers of the North to resume the avocations 
of peace, and it must have been much harder and much 
more trying and difficult for the soldiers of the South. 
The former returned to a prosperous country, while the 
latter returned to a country where stagnation and pa- 
ralysis, as a result of the war, prevailed. It was under 
such circumstances and conditions that Senator Bacon 



[37] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

embarked in the practice of law in 1866, the year follow- 
ing the close of the war, and in the period of reconstruc- 
tion. While by intellect and training a thorough, able, 
and most conscientious lawyer, I can readily conceive that 
under the circumstances he found it at first uphill and 
not very remunerative work; but his ability and persist- 
ency in due time, as the country gradually recuperated, 
met with its reward, and he soon became one of the lead- 
ers of the bar in his State. As a lawyer he was pains- 
taking, thorough, and honest. He was not a mere case 
lawyer, but one who was versed and well grounded in 
the fundamental principles of jurisprudence. He was a 
close student of our constitutional law, and believed in 
adhering to its fundamental principles, its checks and 
balances. He was of a conservative temperament and 
trend of mind, and hence his opinion on great constitu- 
tional questions was deliberately formed and of great 
value. 

After having firmly established himself as a lawyer and 
becoming well known for his proficiency and skill in that 
calling, at the instance of his people he entered the politi- 
cal arena of his State as a member of its legislature in 
-the lower house, where he served for 14 years in all, 8 
years of that time as speaker and 2 years as speaker pro 
tempore. 

As a legislator he was safe, sound, and moderately con- 
servative, with a talent for constructive and remedial 
legislation. As a presiding officer he was patient, fair, 
and impartial, aiming to keep the deliberations of the 
body over which he presided within the pale of parlia- 
mentary law. In the legislature he was looked up to as 
a guide and leader whom it was safe and best to follow. 
He was no truculent timeserver nor weather-vane gazer. 
He stood for what he believed was just, right, and for 
the public welfare. 



[38] 



Address of Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota 



The people of Georgia approved of his course and his 
work, and as a token of their approval in the fall of 1894 
elected him to the United States Senate for the term com- 
mencing March 4, 1895. He was thrice reelected, and 
passed away in the first year of his last term. He was 
the first Senator elected by a popular vote of the people 
under the recent constitutional amendment. 

Few if any have ever entered this body better equipped 
for the great work entailed on its Members, who are not 
only acting as legislators but as advisers of the President 
in the matter of our diplomatic affairs and in connection 
with appointment to office. He was assigned, among other 
assignments, to the important Committees of Judiciary 
and Foreign Relations, and in the great work of these 
committees he took a prominent and leading part. In the 
proceedings on the floor of the Senate he took a leading 
and pronounced part from the very beginning. He was 
nearly always in his seat, vigilant and watchful. 

Nothing escaped his attention. Though not an orator 
in the common acceptation of the term, it can be truly 
said that he was a first-class and ready debater, thorough 
and exhaustive, ready to take and give blows. But he 
was always fair, honorable, and manly. There was noth- 
ing rough or rude in his behavior to an antagonist. He 
was always the thorough gentleman, true to his cause, his 
training, and his environment. To me he always ap- 
peared in public and in private as a connecting link 
between the old and the new South. In his attitude and 
demeanor he seemed to me like one of the gentry of the 
old South infused with the progressive spirit and aspira- 
tions of the new South. Faithful to his past and the past 
of his country, he was nevertheless truly alive to the great 
future of our country and ready to give it a helping hand, 
both North and South. 



[39] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

All of us who served in the great Civil War had much 
to learn and unlearn of each other; and we came out of 
that strenuous and drastic school wiser and better Ameri- 
cans and with more charity and good will for each other, 
and we all came to ultimately realize, as the wounds of 
the war were healed, that the God of battle had, after all, 
conferred a great blessing upon us in making us again 
a reunited country, stronger, more vigorous, and more 
progressive than ever. Our friend, the deceased Senator, 
died as zealous in the welfare of our common country as 
any who were opposed to him in the great struggle. 

When at the beginning of this Congress the Democrats 
attained the ascendancy in this body, Senator Bacon was 
at the head of his party upon the Committees on Judi- 
ciary and Foreign Relations, and he had the option of 
taking the chairmanship of either of these committees. 
He selected that of Foreign Relations, and it seemed to 
me that he chose wisely. While he would have made a 
most excellent chairman of the Judiciary Committee, yet 
his tastes, his aspirations, and, above all, his studies led 
him in the direction of our foreign affairs. 

He had to my knowledge, after entering the Senate, 
been a close student of international law and of our 
diplomatic relations, and as a consequence was in a high 
degree qualified for the chairmanship of this important 
committee. And it was his ambition to take a leading 
part in the adjustment of our foreign affairs and diplo- 
matic relations, and I feel sure that had his life been 
spared he would have been most helpful to the adminis- 
tration of his party in guiding it in its relations with 
foreign nations. 

I remember very well when, during the first session of 
this Congress, there was a disposition in certain quarters 
to have our country resort to armed intervention in the 
affairs of Mexico, how he frowned upon such a course, 



[40] 



Address of Mr. Nelson, of Minnesota 

and how anxious he was to avoid everything that savored 
of war. It seems sad, and it must have seemed sad to 
him, in his last conscious moments, to be cut off by death 
at the very threshold of the new duties and great work 
he had assumed. Death, however, is no respecter of 
human wishes and human aspirations. The summons 
comes oftentimes when we least expect it and when we 
are reluctant to go, but we are, on the whole, safe in 
assuming that the dispensations of an All-Wise Provi- 
dence are for the best, and in saying "Even so, Father, 
for so it seemeth good in Thy sight." 

Fifty-four Senators, who were Members of this body 
when Senator Bacon first entered, have since passed 
away, and 44 Senators and one Vice President have since 
that time died while in the public service. I append a 
list of these latter to my remarks. It is a most notable 
roll of the men who have been our guides and leaders 
during this generation. Next to the last on this roll is 
our departed associate, to whom we pay our tribute on 
this occasion. He has left us, but the example he gave 
and the results of the work he wrought abides as an 
instructive and hope-engendering lesson for us and for 
our posterity. 

List of United States Senators who have died while in the United 
States Senate from the Fifty-fourth Congress, inclusive, to the 
present time. 

Joseph H. Earle, South Carolina, May 20, 1897. 
Isham G. Harris, Tennessee, July 8, 1897. 
James Z. George, Mississippi, August 14, 1897. 
Edward C. Walthall, Mississippi, April 21, 1898. 
Justin S. Morrill, Vermont, December 28, 1898. 
Monroe L. Hayward, Nebraska, December 5, 1899 (never 
attended). 

John H. Gear, Iowa, July 14, 1900. 

Cushman K. Davis, Minnesota, November 27, 1900. 



[41] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



James H. Kyle, South Dakota, July 1, 1901. 

William J. Sewell, New Jersey, December 27, 1901. 

James McMillan, Michigan, August 10, 1902. 

Marcus A. Hanna, Ohio, February 15, 1904. 

Matthew S. Quay, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1904. 

George F. Hoar, Massachusetts, September 30, 1904. 

William B. Bate, Tennessee, March 9, 1905. 

Orville H. Piatt, Connecticut, April 21, 1905. 

John H. Mitchell, Oregon, December 8, 1905. 

Arthur P. Gorman, Maryland, June 4, 1906. 

Bussell A. Alger, Michigan, January 24, 1907. 

John T. Morgan, Alabama, June 11, 1907. 

Edmund W. Pettus, Alabama, July 27, 1907. 

Stephen B. Mallory, Florida, December 23, 1907. 

Asbury C. Latimer, South Carolina, February 20, 1908. 

Bedfield Proctor, Vermont, March 4, 1908. 

William Pinkney Whyte, Maryland, March 17, 1908. 

William James Bryan, Florida, March 22, 1908. 

William Boyd Allison, Iowa, August 4, 1908. 

Martin N. Johnson, North Dakota, October 21, 1909. 

Anselm J. McLaurin, Mississippi, December 22, 1909. 

Samuel Douglas McEnery, Louisiana, June 28, 1910. 

John Warwick Daniel, Virginia, June 29, 1910. 

Jonathan P. Dolliver, Iowa, October 15, 1910. 

Alexander Stephen Clay, Georgia, November 13, 1910. 

Stephen B. Elkins, West Virginia, January 4, 1911. 

Charles A. Hughes, jr., Colorado, January 11, 1911. 

William P. Frye, Maine, August 8, 1911. 

Bobert L. Taylor, Tennessee, March 31, 1912. 

George S. Nixon, Nevada, June 5, 1912. 

Weldon B. Heyburn, Idaho, October 17, 1912. 

James S. Sherman (Vice President), New York, October 30, 1912. 

Isidor Bayner, Maryland, November 25, 1912. 

Jeff Davis, Arkansas, January 3, 1913. 

Joseph F. Johnston, Alabama, August 8, 1913. 

Augustus 0. Bacon, Georgia, February 14, 1914. 

William 0. Bradley, Kentucky, May 23, 1914. 



[42] 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 

Mr. President: Senator Bacon died while the Senate 
was in session. When it was suddenly announced in the 
Senate that Senator Bacon was dead it was a great shock 
to all. A solemn stillness pervaded this Chamber. Sor- 
row was depicted upon every face and all realized that a 
great man had fallen, one whose place would be very hard 
to fill, and the State of Georgia and the country had lost 
a great leader. 

Now, when we have stopped the wheels of legislation 
and have set apart this hour to pay honor to his memory, 
to pay to him the last tribute we can ever pay in this 
world, I, as his friend, desire to add my simple tribute to 
his memory. 

I admired him for his ability. I held him in high esteem 
for his character and his services to his country. I ad- 
mired him for his statesmanship and devotion to duty. 
I esteemed him for his friendship. 

When I came to the Senate 12 years ago he had served 
his State here for 8 years, and his reputation then had 
been established as one of the leaders of the Senate. I 
confess that at first my estimate of him, from a personal 
standpoint, was shattered. I have noticed since that time 
that with the new Senators at first he was not popular. 
He appeared unapproachable and unsympathetic, but to 
the older Senators who knew him this was not so. 

His paternal ancestors were Puritans, having first 
settled in Massachusetts in 1630. Upon this stock was 
grafted the cavalier, his maternal ancestors having settled 
in Virginia. Thus he had combined in him the dignity, 
austerity, cold, irresponsive, and retiring manners of the 

[43] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Puritan with the courage, gentleness, open, frank, posi- 
tive, and refined qualities of the cavalier. 

It was not long before my first impression was dis- 
pelled and that better and lovable side came out most 
vividly. Those who came in close touch with him not 
only admired but were personally fond of him. All re- 
spected him and esteemed him for his ability as a lawyer, 
a debater, and a constructive statesman. 

Few States since the foundation of the Government 
have been more ably represented upon this floor than 
the great State of Georgia, but she has never been repre- 
sented by a more useful Senator than Senator Bacon. 
He was not equal in ability to Robert Toombs; he did not 
have the logic and was not possessed of the great rea- 
soning faculty and statesmanship of Alexander Stephens; 
he was not as great and eloquent a debater as Ben Hill; 
but he was a splendid debater, logical and at times elo- 
quent. He was an able lawyer, superior to either one 
of these great Senators as a parliamentarian, and was 
more diligent and untiring in his work upon committees. 
If all of these had been Members of this Senate at the 
same time Augustus O. Bacon would not have suffered 
by comparison. In any parliamentary body on earth he 
would have been recognized as a leader among leaders. 
He was not a colossal figure in the public eye. He was 
by no means commonplace, and no one would place him 
in the mediocre class. 

No Member of this Senate was more regular in his 
attendance upon the meetings of committees and the 
sessions of the Senate. He was rarely absent from his 
seat and took part in all of the great debates. As a 
member of the Judiciary Committee and the Committee 
on Foreign Relations he was always ready to debate any 
great questions affecting the Constitution and inform the 
Senate upon any delicate questions affecting our foreign 

[44] 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 



relations. He always enlightened the Senate upon these 
great questions whenever he spoke. His familiarity with 
the rules of the Senate and parliamentary law was re- 
markable, and he was the recognized authority on these 
questions. He was far from being a demagogue or the 
hypocrite. He was a manly man, always open, frank, 
and brave. He always stood up to be counted, and with 
courage always asserted his convictions with such force, 
frankness, and purity of purpose that he won the respect 
of those who differed with him in forensic contests. 

Here he ranked as one of the leaders of his party. He 
was so recognized, and justly so. His name is connected 
with much of the important legislation which for the last 
20 years has passed this body and been enacted into law. 

For 40 years he served his State faithfully, loyally, and 
with warm devotion to her interests. At the first call of 
his State for troops he volunteered to battle for her rights, 
and for four long years through the cruel and bloody 
war he rendered devoted and faithful service, first as 
adjutant of the Ninth Georgia Regiment and then as 
captain upon staff duty under Gens. Henry R. Jackson, 
Imboden, and Mackall. After the war he returned to his 
State, read law, and soon rose to the first rank among 
the great lawyers of that State. His oratorical talents 
and interest in public matters soon led him into the po- 
litical arena. He served as presidential elector, and was 
elected 12 successive years as a member of the legisla- 
ture and for 8 years was speaker of the house of repre- 
sentatives, in which position he served with honor and 
dignity. Many other positions of honor were conferred 
upon him by his party. He was considered one of the 
most aggressive and stalwart leaders in his State, and, 
recognizing his leadership and ability, his State elected 
him in 1894 to the United States Senate. Four times he 



[45] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

was returned to this body, practically without opposition. 
The last time — in 1913 — he was elected by a direct vote 
of the people under the seventeenth amendment to the 
Constitution. In this election he had the marked distinc- 
tion of being the first Georgian elected for four successive 
terms and also the first Senator in the country elected by 
the people. 

While he was not what might be called the idol of his 
people, they felt proud of him. Proud of the great record 
he made in the Senate and the honor he brought to the 
State. They believed in him as an honest, incorruptible 
man; as one who had served his State faithfully, loyally, 
and with untiring energy; and they were glad to confer 
upon him these unprecedented honors. 

Senator Bacon was of a sanguine temperament. His 
high hopes and purposes were the result of his moral 
instincts and his intellectual convictions. Those who 
knew him best knew that he was full of sentiment. He 
was a deep lover of nature. He was fond of poetry and 
song. He loved the sunshine, the birds and flowers, the 
trees and running brooks. He was accustomed to take 
long walks and ramble through the woods in Rock Creek 
Park to commune with nature. 

Though he never paraded it, Senator Bacon was a wor- 
shipful man, full of reverence. He had an abiding faith 
in the immortality of the soul, and was a firm believer 
in the beautiful land of rest in the great beyond. These 
things he rarely spoke of, but in his last will, with his 
own pen, he had no hesitation in telling to his family and 
the world of his abiding faith, the evidence of things 
unseen, the substance of things hoped for. 

He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. 



[46] 



Address of Mr. Overman, of North Carolina 



With him " life's fitful fever is over." It was permitted 
to him to live out his three score years and ten. He has 
crossed over the river and rests under the shade of the 
trees where separation, sorrow, sighing, and injustice 
shall be no more. 



[47] 



Address of Mr. O' Gorman, of New York 

Mr. President: A great man has gone from among us, 
full of years, of good works, and of deserved honors. 

When the Senate loses one who for years has been 
among the most conspicuous and distinguished of its 
Members we but perform a solemn duty in placing upon 
the immutable records an expression of the Nation's 
grief and of our own sense of loss and bereavement. 

Augustus Octavius Bacon was not only an able and 
exceptionally useful Senator, but he was a distinct force 
in the life of his State and of the Nation, a strong cham- 
pion of those broad principles and high ideals which he 
consistently advocated during his long career in public 
life. His was an attractive personality, and as he walked 
among his fellow men he commanded a place of leader- 
ship and distinction which his colleagues readily accorded 
to him. Firm in his convictions and courageous in giving 
them expression, he was an opponent to be respected and 
a friend to be cherished. In all respects he was a high 
type of American citizen, a title which he greatly prized 
and upon which he reflected credit and honor. 

He was elected to the United States Senate in November, 
1894, and through the grateful appreciation of his native 
State served continuously as a Member of the Senate until 
February 14 of the present year, when, after many years 
of well-earned honors and rewards, his career came to 
a close. 

Senators are familiar with his long record of service in 
this body, and in this presence I need not dwell upon the 
important part he took in our deliberations in committee 
and on the floor of the Senate. He brought to the dis- 

[48] 



Address of Mr. O'Gorman, of New York 

charge of his public duties rare natural gifts and talents, 
ripened by years of experience in the law and in State 
and National legislation. He was a man of scholarly 
tastes, profound erudition, and wide knowledge of the 
world. His mind was unprejudiced, vigorous, and com- 
prehensive. In debate he was forceful and illuminating. 
His death took from the Senate one of its most experi- 
enced and efficient Members and deprived us of an in- 
structive and companionable associate. 

Those who had the privilege of knowing Senator Bacon 
can not withhold the expression of affectionate admira- 
tion for his pure and distinguished patriotism, his exem- 
plary life, his unsullied career. A survey of the accom- 
plishments of the Senate during the past 18 years must 
evoke grateful remembrance of his sturdy, earnest, and 
zealous devotion to the service of his country. His fine 
dignity and unyielding respect for the great traditions 
of the Senate stamped him as a representative of that 
honorable old school of statesmanship which has con- 
tributed so much to the pride and glory of the Republic. 

Most men of note live through but one career and win 
fame in one line of endeavor, along one road of duty and 
ambition, in a continuous and harmonious environment. 
It was the fate of Senator Bacon to do more; he ran the 
whole gamut of those emotions and affections which have 
stirred the American people during the past 60 years. 
Having lived during the trying days of his youth as a loyal 
son of the South, the trials and conflicts through which 
he passed seem to have enriched his patriotism, and the 
early love which he bore for the Southland was but the 
budding of that deep and affectionate loyalty to the 
Republic which made him love each cherished spot where 
floats the Stars and Stripes. Out of the flames of the 
sectional conflicts of his youth came a national devotion 
of patriotic intensity. He loved his country and gave his 

87634°— 15 i [49] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

life to her service. He was a thoroughly sincere man, 
who had nothing but public purpose to inspire him. 
Senator Bacon grew old forcefully as well as gracefully, 
giving to the country the full and generous benefit of his 
ripened experience and mature judgment. 

Georgia has played a noble and brilliant part in the 
battle of American progress. Her distinguished men have 
added much to the inspiring history of our national 
advancement, and among the most valued of her contri- 
butions to the general welfare were the career and public 
services of her illustrious son, to whose memory to-day 
we pay the last tribute of friendship and admiration. 



[50] 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 

Mr. President: Hanging on the walls in my committee 
room in the Capitol, where I work from five to seven 
hours a day, are the photographs of some of my best 
friends, men whom I admire and love. Most of these are 
still living and are much my junior. One of them is 
dead, and his kindly face beams down on me from the 
wall all the while and makes me feel sometimes as though 
he were present and going to speak. 

We entered the Senate together in 1895, nearly 20 years 
ago, and during these years a warm friendship grew up 
between us. Our committee rooms were next to the 
Senate library and adjoined. Although he was my elder 
by several years, he always addressed me as " The old 
man " — " How is the old man to-day ? " being his usual 
greeting — and the name by which I addressed him most 
frequently was " My Lord Bacon." 

I was at Robertson's Sanitarium in Atlanta last Feb- 
ruary when the news of his death was flashed over the 
wires, and immediately telegraphed the Vice President 
asking to be appointed on the committee to attend his 
funeral. When his body reached Atlanta I joined the 
committee and went on to Macon, and saw him laid 
away to rest in the beautiful cemetery on the hillside 
among his loved dead. While he was very reserved 
about family matters and rarely mentioned them, our 
intimacy led him once to tell me what a terrible grief 
came into his life when his twin boys both died in one 
week. 

He was very much loved by the people of his own 
city and State, and there were deputations from many 



[51] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

parts of Georgia to attend his funeral. The people of 
that great State — like Virginia, the " mother of states- 
men " — realized that they had lost another great man. 
I do not say " great man " flippantly, but advisedly. All 
men who become Senators do not thereby become great. 
The roll of great Senators is somewhat limited, and the 
average man would be puzzled to name 20 great Senators 
during the period of our history. But Bacon had qualities 
of mind which made him worthy to be called a great man. 
He was not merely a good politician and good fellow. 

I married a Georgia woman and was born and reared 
within 13 miles of the Georgia line, and always had a 
great -many friends in that State. It is a saddening 
thought that I have attended the funeral of two of 
Georgia's great men — Bacon and Clay. They honored 
me by giving me their friendship. 

Bacon was a great lawyer. I will always remember an 
incident which occurred at a dinner at my home when I 
lived on East Capitol Street in this city. This was many 
years ago. I had formed a strong attachment for three 
of my colleagues, all of them lawyers — Bacon, Spooner, 
and Chandler. Although I am a farmer pure and simple 
and never studied law at all, my official position as gov- 
ernor, during which time I had many lawsuits for the 
State, necessitated my reading many Supreme Court de- 
cisions. Then, too, in general reading I had become 
familiar with the principles of the law and knew a little 
something about the Constitution. Therefore I am not 
entirely ignorant or an unappreciative listener when law 
points are being discussed. On the occasion of which I 
speak — the dinner at my home — it will be noted that two 
of my guests were Republicans, both leaders of their 
party until they left the Senate. Although I am con- 
sidered a partisan and am a very pronounced partisan 
in many respects, I never allowed my Democratic prin- 

[52] 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 

ciples to interfere with my personal friendships. It is a 
source of pride to believe — indeed, to know — that a large 
number of the Republicans with whom I have been asso- 
ciated in the Senate during my 20 years' service are and 
have been my personal friends. Many of them have 
" gone over the river " where Bacon has joined them. 
I must join that caravan, too, soon, for I am nearly " three 
score and ten " and realize every day that I am approach- 
ing the end. But I am prepared when the time comes to 
go to the grave— 

* * * Not like the quarry slave at night, 
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed 
By an unfaltering trust, I will approach my grave 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

But let us back to the dinner. I had a son who was at 
that time a law student at Georgetown University, and 
more for his encouragement than anything else I told 
those three great lawyers, who had climbed to the very 
top of their profession and then been given the highest 
office in the gift of their States, that I would be very 
much obliged if they would tell us something of their 
early trials and struggles. I started off with Bacon, asking 
how much income he got from his first year's practice. 
He answered something like this : " Tillman, when I first 
began the practice of law I entered the office of Judge 
Lochrane, who was then at the head of the bar in Macon 
and had a very large practice. Although the firm name 
was Lochrane & Bacon, I soon found very much to my 
disgust that all of the clients and even visitors to the office 
wanted * to see Judge Lochrane,' and none called for or 
wanted to see Mr. Bacon. His reputation had thrown me 
into an eclipse. I decided that I could not afford this and 
therefore determined to withdraw from the firm and set 
up on my own hook. I did not get much practice at first, 

[53] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

and money was so scarce that, to economize in every 
way possible, I used to sit without a fire with a blanket 
wrapped around my legs and feet to keep warm while 
reading. I really did not feel able to buy wood." 

Spooner broke into his reminiscences saying : " I was 
in debt when I hung out my shingle, and the first thing 
I did was to marry; but I did manage to make about 
$1,500." 

Chandler came next with his experience and, as I re- 
call it, he said: "I began practicing when 20 years old, 
also in company with a senior partner. I do not recall 
that I received much of anything that year. The next 
year, 1856, I practiced alone and made about $1,300 or 
$1,400 — enough to pay board and lay up a little. After 
practicing nine years, before coming to Washington, I 
had managed to accumulate between four and five thou- 
sand dollars. During that time, however, I recall that I 
interfered a great deal in politics." 

The picture of Bacon shivering in the cold, Spooner 
battling poverty, and Chandler in stringent circumstances 
because of lack of practice made a very lasting impres- 
sion on my mind. When I recall the careers of these 
three men, they are marked illustrations of the possi- 
bilities of our American civilization and demonstrate 
very forcefully that where men have the brains and 
energy they can carve a career under very adverse con- 
ditions. 

As our committee rooms were so near together, Bacon 
and I frequently walked up Pennsylvania Avenue to- 
gether, and on these walks we had long talks about poli- 
tics, history, poetry, literature, and books we had read. 
I remember those walks with a great deal of pleasure 
now, because my pleasures now are mostly those of mem- 
ory, and I presume other men, old and invalid like my- 
self, are in the same condition. 

[54] 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 



He had a characteristic which made our association 
appear sometimes incongruous. His frame of mind was 
eminently judicial and he objected strenuously to any 
interruption; could not tolerate it, in fact. Indeed, no two 
men in the Senate were more different in temperament. 
He was calm and pacific at all times. I am impetuous 
and frank, and my strongest and most marked character- 
istic is perhaps pugnacity. Our friendship must have 
been due to the law which has been formulated thus: 
Men like their opposites, and not those who have the 
same foibles and feelings they themselves have. He was 
diplomatic or nothing, and no one ever even suspected 
me of having any feeling of that kind. I would frequently 
ask his opinion on a law point on some matter before the 
Senate or in the newspapers, and when he started to tell 
me I would see the point he was attempting to elucidate 
before he got to it, and would interrupt with some word 
showing I did not need further explanation. He always 
resented this very much, saying, " You will not let a man 
tell you anything before you interrupt him." 

He was a man of very great refinement of feeling and 
disliked above all things to wound another. I never heard 
him in the Senate in debate say anything sharp, sarcastic, 
or vehement. Sometimes he grew earnest and even elo- 
quent in discussing matters before the Senate, and I have 
heard him give the Republican Party a very severe drub- 
bing more than once, but I never did hear him utter any 
such thoughts without apologizing for it — a salve for the 
wound, as it were. I have abused him many times good- 
naturedly for this weakness, which many will consider his 
finest characteristic. But, then, it was his nature to be 
kind and gentle, and he hated to say anything calculated 
to wound feelings or rankle in the memory like a thorn 
in the flesh. I have always considered this a weakness 
and have acted on the contrary principle. I never said 

[55] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

anything unless I believed it to be true, and if the truth 
hurts I feel that it ought to hurt, for in that way only 
could reformation be brought about. Having served in 
the minority here for 18 years I realize fully what it is to 
cultivate patience, and longed for the time when my own 
party should have control. 

Bacon had a mind peculiarly filled with veneration for 
tradition and old customs. He was a stickler for the rules 
of the Senate, and very few Senators had a better knowl- 
edge of those rules or of Jefferson's Manual or was more 
familiar with the Constitution of the United States than 
he. He was always at his best in arguing a constitutional 
question or a legal point, though sometimes I thought a 
little prolix and wordy. His membership on the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations made it necessary for him to 
study international law and be familiar with treaties, and 
his knowledge of both was very extensive. 

He was very fond of music, and in his home were two 
music boxes, one of the old Swiss type and the other a 
modern machine which would reproduce the voices of 
great singers. Frequently we got together at his home or 
mine and spent the evening listening to good music. 

He was very fond of travel and of reciting his experi- 
ences on his various trips to Europe. He made it his 
religious duty, after his first breakdown in the Senate 
some 10 years ago, to spend two or three months each 
summer in the Tyrolean Alps. He believed that these 
trips abroad had a great deal to do with his robust ap- 
pearance and health and were necessary to prolong his 
life. Whether or not his failure to get away last summer 
had anything to do with hurrying the end, of course we 
do not know, but he longed for the European mountains 
and was very much disappointed and put out because of 
his inability to go abroad. He felt that he could not afford 
to have the appearance of neglecting his duty, although 



;56] 



Address of Mr. Tillman, of South Carolina 



he had been triumphantly reelected for the fourth time by 
the people of Georgia the year before, and political con- 
sideration did not control his action or govern his feelings 
in any way. He stood by his post of duty and went down 
on the firing line, as it were. No soldier on the battle 
field ever showed more courage. Senators come and go, 
but it will be a long time before the Senate is adorned by 
a more able man or one better liked by his colleagues. 



[57] 



Address of Mr. Gallinger, of New Hampshire 

Mr. President: Others better fitted for the task than I 
have told the story of the life work of our late distin- 
guished associate, the Hon. Augustus O. Bacon, of Geor- 
gia. For me it is sufficient to say a few simple words of 
appreciation of a man whom I admired, a Senator of 
unswerving integrity, acknowledged ability, and univer- 
sally recognized distinction, who in the discharge of his 
public duties shed luster not only upon his own State but 
also upon the country which he served faithfully and well. 

When Senator Bacon entered the Senate I had been a 
Member of the body for four years. Before he had taken 
the oath of office I was told by those who knew him well 
that he would take a high place in the Senate because of 
his extensive learning, his legislative experience, his legal 
acquirements, and his great ability as a debater and 
parliamentarian. In all these respects he abundantly ful- 
filled the expectations of those who vouched for him, 
speedily gaining deserved recognition and honor. 

Senator Bacon stood for all that is best in the history 
and traditions of this body. He insisted upon the ob- 
servance of the rules which are designed to govern our 
deliberations, and he also insisted upon an observance 
of the precedents, social as well as otherwise, which have 
been handed down to us by our predecessors. A man of 
simple tastes and quiet living, he nevertheless contended 
that the Senate should be given its rightful place on all 
occasions and not be pushed aside or ignored by those 
who had. less claim for recognition or priority. A true 
disciple of Jefferson in simplicity of life and manners, 
he was equally an aristocrat when occasion demanded. 



[58] 



Address of Mr. Gallinger, of New Hampshire 



To him the pomp and circumstance of life meant little, 
but the amenities of life meant everything. He was a 
man of high ideals, of irreproachable character, and 
possessed of a courtesy and kindliness of heart which 
bespoke the true gentleman. 

For nearly 20 years it was my privilege to come in 
almost daily contact with this honored son of one of the 
original thirteen States, and during all that time, 
whether in the routine of legislative procedure, of par- 
liamentary contention, or in the heat and stress of debate, 
no wound was inflicted on either side that remained un- 
healed for an hour. A man of positive convictions and 
matured views, he extended to his colleagues the un- 
questioned right to opinions differing from those which 
he held and which he was always ready to defend. 
Thoroughly versed in the history and traditions of his 
own country, his wide knowledge of international affairs 
gave to his opinions an authority and influence possessed 
by few men in the history of our Government. The 
death of Senator Bacon removed from this body one of 
its ablest Members and deprived the Nation of the wise 
counsel of a cultured, conscientious, and broad-minded 
legislator and statesman. 

Mr. President, as I stood at the open grave of my asso- 
ciate and friend, in the beautiful burial ground at Macon; 
as I saw the great concourse of his friends and neighbors 
assembled to do him honor; as I saw the tears on the 
cheeks of family and kinsmen; as I listened to the words 
of the preacher, so full of tenderness and meaning; and 
as I looked beyond and saw those whom he had left, 
struggling for preferment above their fellows, I could not 
but ask myself what the real meaning of life is. And it 
then came to me, as it had so often come before and as it 
has come many times since, that the true meaning of life 



[59] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

is not wealth nor fame nor glory, but rather that it is 
summed up in the few simple words of the Master: 

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, * and thou shalt 

love thy neighbor as thyself. 

And turning away from that scene of sadness and grief, 
bidding a long farewell to the great man whom I was 
privileged to call friend, I felt like consecrating my life 
and whatever talents I possess to a deeper devotion to 
public and private service, and thus be prepared for the 
great change that will inevitably come to all of us as it 
came to this gifted son of Georgia. And so to-day I can 
but express the hope that his example will be to us an 
inspiration for all that is best in this world, and that the 
life and character of Senator Bacon, as it will be read and 
recounted by the youth of his native Commonwealth, may 
beckon them on to higher purposes, to cleaner lives, and 
to greater achievements for the welfare of their fellow 
men, the State, and the Nation. 



[60] 



Address of Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 

Mr. President: Augustus Octavius Bacon, late a Sen- 
ator of the United States from the State of Georgia, long 
represented and personified on this floor a type of states- 
manship that is fast passing away, if, indeed, it be not 
already passed. 

Imagine him clad in the toga of twenty-two hundred 
years ago, and it would not require a much more difficult 
stretch of the imagination to see in him, reincarnated, the 
highest type of the Roman senator at the very climax of 
that period when the senators of Rome were the law- 
givers of the world. Compare him in all the essentials 
that made the senators of the world's great Republic 
illustrious and their integrity the proudest boast of a great 
people with them, and neither he nor American states- 
manship suffers in the comparison. 

Is high-minded personal and official integrity that is not 
only beyond question but above suspicion the first and 
all-essential requisite for lofty public service? If so, Sen- 
ators, in this age of yellow journalism and of unwarranted 
license in the criticism of public men it should be an in- 
spiration to every American schoolboy to learn what those 
of you who served longest with our dead friend know 
be S t — that in this great virtue he was second to no Roman 
Cato. 

Is lofty patriotism that exalts one's country above all 
earthly objects and enthrones the lasting good of her 
people as the one great object for which senates assemble 
and parliaments legislate another essential and funda- 
mental virtue? If so, Senators, we may all find comfort 
in the thought and draw inspiration from the fact that in 

[61] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

the practice of this great virtue the late Senator from 
Georgia set for himself a standard not less lofty than 
that of the elder Brutus. 

Is real and unassumed personal and official dignity, a 
due regard for the exact proprieties of every occasion, and 
a full appreciation of the grea-tness of the imperial Com- 
monwealth that sent him here so long and of the mighty 
Nation he loved and served so well to be appraised a 
virtue? If so, Senators, in these qualities your late col- 
league could be compared most favorably with the proud- 
est Tarquin of them all. 

Is the possession of a mind well stored with the legal 
lore of his people and his race, well trained in the meas- 
urement of wrongs and the weighing of conflicting rights, 
to be accounted a splendid part of the equipment of a 
great lawmaker? If so, Senators, in this respect the dead 
Senator whom we honor to-day was as splendidly 
equipped for the public service as any Roman Justinian. 

Is that " righteousness that exalteth a nation " to be 
applied to its foreign affairs as well as to its domestic 
concerns? And is that man who, in his legislative con- 
duct and career, seeks to apply the doctrine of the Golden 
Rule to other nations as well as to the citizens of his own 
to be adjudged truly great when the scales of public 
opinion shall be finally and justly balanced? If so, Sen- 
ators, the late Senator Bacon, who was for so long a time 
a potent factor for good in the conduct of our foreign 
relations, will not lose in stature when he is compared 
with even the greatest of those early Romans who stood 
for justice and square dealing, even with the despised 
barbarian, and even against the clamor of a fierce and 
war-loving nation. 

Of Senator Bacon's long and successful career at the 
Georgia bar, of which he was the acknowledged leader 
when elected to the Senate; of his splendid service to the 



[62] 



Address of Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 

people of Georgia while a member of her legislature, of 
whose house of representatives he was for eight years the 
honored speaker; of his unselfish devotion to the interests 
of his alma mater, the University of Georgia, even during 
those years in which the weight of public duties and re- 
sponsibilities bore heaviest upon him; of his unfaltering 
loyalty to the Democratic Party, both in our State and 
Nation, through many years of valued service, I may not 
on this occasion speak in detail, lest I become prolix. 

Upon his great services in this Chamber through the 
past 20 years, touching almost every line of legislative 
and parliamentary activity, I may not with propriety 
dwell, for many of his honored colleagues, intimately 
associated with him in those activities, are still with us, 
and are far more competent than I am to recount his 
work and acclaim its worth. 

I trust I may be pardoned, however, if I allude briefly 
to several particulars in which it has always seemed to 
me his influence was strongest and his work most fruitful. 

First of all, he was diligent to a degree and constant 
without exception in his attention to the work of the 
Senate and in his attendance upon its sessions. 

In the next place, he always attached great importance 
to the rules and precedents of the Senate. In respect to 
this matter, it may have seemed to the thoughtless, on 
occasion, that Senator Bacon was overtechnical in his 
insistence upon following the rules of the Senate and in 
adhering to its well-settled precedents. Such was not the 
case, however, for he had acquired a profound knowl- 
edge of those rules and precedents, and with it an equally 
profound conviction that the rules and precedents of 
this great body all form part and parcel of a great com- 
prehensive and complete system by which legislation in 
this Chamber is both accelerated and safeguarded, and 
that prudence requires that a legislative body shall steer 

[63] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

according to its chart and compass, in this way securing 
the greatest general good and in this way scrupulously 
preserving the rights of all. 

In the next place, during his long and potent connection 
with the foreign affairs of our country he brought to their 
consideration not only all the splendid equipment of a 
great legal mind but also a fine and fair sense of natural 
justice. In his consideration of these questions he had 
two maxims of conduct that, in my judgment, have 
proved invaluable to our country in the past and are 
indispensable to her safety, peace, and glory in the future : 

First, that we should religiously adhere to the almost 
inspired advice of the great Father of his Country to 
cultivate friendly relations with all the nations of the 
earth and to have entangling alliances with none. 

Second, that we can neither afford to bully the weak 
nor truckle to the strong, but should invariably accord 
to the weakest nation with which we have dealings the 
same consideration, the same justice, the same rights 
that we accord to the mightiest powers of earth. 

Lastly, but by no means of least importance, Senator 
Bacon had a fixed and accurate conception of the great 
American system of government — of the great dual sys- 
tem that distributes power between the Federal and State 
sovereignties — giving to each jurisdiction complete and 
supreme power in its own sphere of activity, and yet so 
adjusting the balance between them that real conflict is 
rare if not impossible. 

He believed with the intense fervor of enlightened 
conviction that our fathers had built wisely and not at 
haphazard when they ordained this dual system, and that 
in a rigid adherence to it lay the brightest and fairest 
hopes of permanent happiness and prosperity for the 
American people. He realized that the country was too 
large and that its conditions varied too greatly in differ- 

[64] 



Address of Mr. Hardwick, of Georgia 

ent localities to permit, with safety, legislation by the 
Federal authority on matters that were purely local to 
the several States, and as to such matters that the right 
of local self-government was all important. On the other 
hand, he fully recognized and earnestly supported the 
supreme and exclusive authority of the Federal Govern- 
ment to deal with all foreign questions, with all questions 
relating to the national defense, with all questions relat- 
ing to the regulation of commerce between the several 
States, and to exercise to the fullest extent every neces- 
sary power expressly bestowed on it or that could be 
clearly implied from the grant; and he was as stout in 
his assertion of the full and exclusive right and power 
of the Federal Government to perform every proper 
Federal function as he was unyielding in his devotion to 
the great Anglo-Saxon doctrine of local self-government 
in all purely domestic concerns and in respect to all mat- 
ters that properly fell within the jurisdiction and power 
of the several States. 

The great service that he rendered in this Chamber 
year after year in his earnest and unremitting effort to 
keep this balance between Federal and State power 
truly adjusted and to preserve to the people of this coun- 
try the inestimable blessings of this great system of 
government to my mind constitutes his most important 
public service, the chiefest glory of his long and distin- 
guished career. 

Mr. President, I have already trespassed far longer than 
I had intended upon the time of the Senate. 

Senator Bacon is gone from our midst, but his influence 
and his example remain with us, to help us all, to inspire 
us all to faithful service and to lofty endeavor. The great 
State that he so long illustrated on this floor was proud of 
him in life and mourns him in death; but to console her in 
her grief, to comfort her in her sorrow she has the proud 

87634°— 15 5 [65] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

realization that in her gift of him to our country she made 
notable contribution to American statesmanship; that his 
passing marks almost the last of an old and honored 
school; and that when death claimed him it might have 
been truly said, " The noblest Roman of them all is no 
more." 

Mr. Smith of Georgia. Mr. President, I ask for the adop- 
tion of the resolution which I send to the desk. 

The Vice President. The Secretary will read the reso- 
lution. 

The Secretary read the resolution, as follows : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

The Vice President. The question is on agreeing to the 
resolution submitted by the Senator from Georgia. 

The resolution was unanimously agreed to; and (at 2 
o'clock p. m.) the Senate adjourned until to-morrow, 
Friday, December 18, 1914, at 12 o'clock meridian. 



[66] 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 

Saturday, February Ik, 191k. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Tulley, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the fol- 
lowing resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. Augustus O. Bacon, late a Senator from the State 
of Georgia. 

Resolved, That a committee of 14 Senators be appointed by the 
Vice President to take order for superintending the funeral of 
Mr. Bacon. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Bepresentatives. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased Senator the Senate do now adjourn. 

Mr. Bartlett. Mr. Speaker, it is my painful duty to 
announce the death of the senior Senator from Georgia, 
Senator Bacon. At some future time I shall ask the 
House to set aside a day that we may pay tribute to his 
memory. At present I offer the following resolutions. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

House resolution 416 

Resolved, That the House has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of Hon. Augustus 0. Bacon, late a Senator from the 
State of Georgia. 

Resolved, That a committee of 20 Members of the House be ap- 
pointed to join such committee of the Senate as may be appointed 
to attend the funeral. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the 
Senate and transmit a copy thereof to the family of the deceased. 

The resolutions were agreed to. 

[67] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

The Speaker announced the following committee on 
the part of the House: Mr. Bartlett, Mr. Adamson, Mr. 
Hardwick, Mr. Bell of Georgia, Mr. Lee of Georgia, Mr. 
Edwards, Mr. Hughes of Georgia, Mr. Tribble, Mr. 
Howard, Mr. Crisp, Mr. Walker, Mr. Park, Mr. Ferris, 
Mr. Mann, Mr. Payne, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Anthony, Mr. 
Willis, Mr. Dyer, and Mr. Prouty. 

Mr. Bartlett. I offer the further resolution, Mr. 
Speaker. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect this House do now 
adjourn. 

The resolution was agreed to; accordingly (at 3 o'clock 
and 55 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned until Monday, 
February 16, 1914, at 12 o'clock noon. 



Monday, February 16, 191k. 

Mr. Fitzgerald assumed the chair as Speaker pro tem- 
pore. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered 
the following prayer: 

Eternal Spirit, our heavenly Father, the All in All, a 
light has gone out of the world, a soul has been translated, 
a great statesman has been taken from us. Where shall 
we go; to whom shall we turn in our bereavement for 
succor and comfort but to Thee? Thou art infinite in all 
Thine attributes, Thou hast planned, Thou canst make no 
mistakes; Thy will is supreme and Thy will is good will. 
Therefore we trust, therefore we hope; we shall not be 
disappointed. 

Comfort our hearts, be light to our darkness. Espe- 
cially come near to the bereaved family who leaned upon 

[68] 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 

him for strength and guidance that they may look for- 
ward without fear but with hope for a brighter day in 
some one of the many mansions which Thou hast pre- 
pared for Thy children. Every storm is followed by a 
calm, every night is followed by a day, so every grief will 
be turned into joy. In the name of Him who revealed the 
life and immortality of the soul. Amen. 

A message from the Senate, by Mr. Tulley, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the follow- 
ing resolutions: 

Resolved, That the committee of 14 Senators appointed by the 
Vice President under the resolution of the Senate of February 14, 
1914, shall take order for superintending the funeral of Mr. Bacon 
in the Senate Chamber at 1 o'clock p. m. on Tuesday, February 17, 
instant, and that the Senate will attend the same. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect the remains of 
Mr. Bacon be removed from Washington to Macon, Ga., in charge 
of the Sergeant at Arms, attended by the committee, who shall 
have full power to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate these proceedings to 
the House of Bepresentatives and invite the House of representa- 
tives to attend the funeral in the Senate Chamber and to appoint 
a committee to act with the committee of the Senate. 

Resolved, That invitations be extended to the President of the 
United States and the members of his Cabinet, the Chief Justice 
and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
the Diplomatic Corps (through the Secretary of State), the Ad- 
miral of the Navy, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Begents and 
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to attend the funeral in 
the Senate Chamber. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

The message further announced that the committee 
appointed by the Vice President to attend the funeral of 
Senator Bacon consists of the following: Mr. Smith of 

[69] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

Georgia, Mr. Tillman, Mr. Overman, Mr. Chilton, Mr. 
Fletcher, Mr. Pomerene, Mr. Thomas, Mr. O'Gorman, Mr. 
Vardaman, Mr. Gallinger, Mr. Root, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Bran- 
degee, and Mr. Page. 

Mr. Underwood. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
for the present consideration of the resolution which I 
send to the desk and ask to have read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That the House accept the invitation of the Senate 
extended to the Speaker and Members of the House of Representa- 
tives to attend the funeral services of the Hon. Augustus 0. 
Bacon, late a Senator of the United States from the State of 
Georgia, to be held in the Senate Chamber on Tuesday, the 17th 
day of February next, at 1 o'clock p. m. 

Resolved, That the committee of the House heretofore appointed 
by the Speaker to attend the funeral services of the late Senator 
Bacon be instructed to act in conjunction with the committee of 
the Senate to make the necessary arrangements. 

The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection to the 
present consideration of the resolution? 

There was no objection. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The question is on agreeing 
to the resolution. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

Mr. Underwood. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
for the present consideration of the resolution which I 
send to the Clerk's desk and ask to have read. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That on Tuesday, February 17, 1914, at 10 minutes to 
1 o'clock p. m., pursuant to the resolution heretofore adopted 
accepting the invitation of the Senate to attend the funeral serv- 
ices of the Hon. Augustus O. Bacon, late a Senator of the United 
States from the State of Georgia, the House shall proceed, with 
the Speaker, to the Senate Chamber, and at the conclusion of the 
services it shall return to this Chamber. 



[70] 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 



The Speaker pro tempore. Is there objection to the 
present consideration of the resolution? 

There was no objection. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The question is on agreeing 
to the resolution. 

The resolution was agreed to. 



Tuesday, February 17, 191b. 

The Speaker. The managers of the Senate have sent 
word to the Chair that they have room in the Senate for 
the Members and officers elect of the House, but they 
have no room for anyone else. 

Mr. Fitzgerald. I move that in pursuance of the re- 
quest of the Senate the House do now proceed to the 
Senate. I move that the House stand in recess until we 
return. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from New York [Mr. 
Fitzgerald] moves that the House stand in recess until we 
return from the Senate. 

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 12 o'clock 
and 45 minutes p. m.) the House stood in recess. 

At 1 o'clock and 35 minutes p. m. the Members of the 
House returned from the Senate Chamber. 

The Speaker. The House will resume its session. 



Friday, December 18, 191k. 
A message from the Senate, by Mr. Tulley, one of its 
clerks, announced that the Senate had passed the follow- 
ing resolutions : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of 
the death of the Hon. Augustus Octavius Bacon, late a Senator 
from the State of Georgia. 

[71] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased the business of the Senate be now suspended to enable his 
associates to pay proper tribute to his high character and distin- 
guished public services. 

Resolved, That the Secretary communicate a copy of these reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives and transmit a copy 
thereof to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the Senate do now adjourn. 

Mr. Bartlett. Mr. Speaker, I desire to present the fol- 
lowing privileged resolution, and ask its adoption. 
The Speaker. The Clerk will report the resolution. 
The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That Sunday, January 24, 1915, be set apart for ad- 
dresses upon the life, character, and public services of Hon. 
Augustus Octavius Bacon, late a Member of the United States 
Senate from the State of Georgia. 

The question was taken, and the resolution was agreed to. 



Saturday, January 16, 1915. 

Mr. Bartlett. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that the date of January 24, 1915, set apart in the House 
for eulogies on the life, character, and public services of 
the late Senator Augustus 0. Bacon, of Georgia, he 
changed to February 21, 1915, on account of the fact that 
gentlemen who expected to be present can not be present 
on the day that has been set. 

The Speaker. The gentleman from Georgia asks unani- 
mous consent that the order for eulogies on the late Sen- 
ator Bacon for the 24th of January be vacated, and that 
Sunday, February 21, be set apart instead. Is there 
objection? 

There was no objection. 



[72] 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 

Sunday, February 21, 1915. 

The House met at 12 o'clock noon, and was called to 
order by Mr. Bartlett as Speaker pro tempore. 

The Chaplain, Rev. Henry N. Couden, D. D., offered the 
following prayer: 

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all genera- 
tions. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever 
Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from 
everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. 

We are come to pay a tribute of respect to two chosen 
servants of the people and to record their life, character, 
and public services, that they may live in history as an 
inspiration and as an example to coming generations. 
The one passed on while serving as a Member of this 
House, the other while a Senator of the United States. 
To have been thus chosen as Members of this great legis- 
lative body is in itself a mark of distinction, indicative 
of mental strength, moral courage, and worthy endeavor. 

They have finished the work Thou gavest them to do 
and have passed on to a service for which the experiences 
of this life have fitted them. We mourn their going, but 
look forward with faith, hope, love to the touch of their 
hand, the cheer of their voice and kindly smile. Be this 
our solace and the comfort of those who knew and loved 
them best in the home, in society where their genial pres- 
ence will be mjssed. May we be prepared when the sum- 
mons comes to pass with imperturbed spirit into that 
realm where love reigns supreme; and we will praise and 
magnify Thy holy name forever, through Him who taught 
us life and the immortality of the soul. Amen. 

Mr. Adamson. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that the reading and approval of the Journal be deferred 
until to-morrow. 



[73] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia 
asks unanimous consent that the reading of the Journal 
be postponed until to-morrow. Is there objection? 

There was no objection. 

Mr. Adamson. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all who speak in eulogy to-day have permission to 
revise and extend their remarks and that general leave to 
print be extended to all Members. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia 
asks unanimous consent that those who speak to-day may 
have permission to extend their remarks and that leave 
be granted to those who are not present and who desire 
to incorporate remarks in the Record to do so. Is there 
objection? 

There was no objection. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The Clerk will read the 
order of the day. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

On motion of Mr. Bartlett, by unanimous consent, 

Ordered, That Sunday, February 21, 1915, be set apart for 

services upon the life, character, and public services of Hon. 

Augustus 0. Bacon, late a Senator from the State of Georgia. 

Mr. Park took the chair as Speaker pro tempore. 

Mr. Bartlett. Mr. Speaker, I offer the following resolu- 
tion. 

The Speaker pro tempore. The gentleman from Georgia 
offers a resolution which the Clerk will report. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

House resolution 740 

Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the memory of the Hon. 
Augustus O. Bacon, late a Senator from the State of Georgia, the 
business of the House be now suspended, to enable his associates 
to pay proper tribute to his high character and distinguished 
public services. 

[74] 



Proceedings in the House of Representatives 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of 
the deceased the House at the conclusion of the exercises of this 
day stand adjourned. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these reso- 
lutions to the Senate. 

Resolved, That the Clerk send a copy of these resolutions to the 
family of the deceased. 

The resolution was agreed to. 



[75] 



MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Born on the 20th of October, 1839, after 
having served his native State as soldier, as legislator, as 
speaker of the house of representatives, as trustee of the 
State University, and for 19 years as a United States Sen- 
ator, Augustus Octavius Bacon died on the 14th of Febru- 
ary, 1914, ripe in years and full of honors. I had known 
him personally since my early boyhood and intimately 
for 35 years. Before his birth his father died, and while 
yet in infancy, before he was a year old, his mother passed 
to the great beyond to join the husband and father. 
He was reared by his grandmother. At an early age he 
entered the University of Georgia, from which he gradu- 
ated with the degree of bachelor of arts, and soon there- 
after he received the degree of bachelor of laws. For 
many years he was a trustee of the University of Georgia, 
and was such at the time of his death. There were con- 
ferred upon him by that university the degrees of bachelor 
of arts, bachelor of laws, master of arts, and doctor of 
laws. Shortly after beginning the practice of law he 
answered to the call to arms made upon her sons by the 
Southern Confederacy. He served in the Army of Vir- 
ginia for two years and was afterwards transferred to 
Georgia and assigned to general staff duty. Soon after 
the close of the war he commenced the practice of law at 
Macon, Ga., where he resided until his death. As a lawyer 
he was studious; he mastered all subjects with consum- 
mate skill and presented them to court and jury with con- 
vincing argument and logic. 

[77] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

During the years following the Civil War, known as 
the reconstruction period in Georgia, he gave his great 
powers to the task of rehabilitating the State and restor- 
ing its government to its own people. In recognition of 
his public services he was elected a member of the 
Georgia House of Representatives from the county of 
Bibb in 1870, and was ■ successively reelected to that 
position for a period of 12 years. For 8 years he was 
speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, and in 
that office he evinced his wonderful familiaritj^ with par- 
liamentary law. He presided with great fairness and 
dignity, and was everywhere recognized as one of the 
most skillful parliamentarians that had ever presided 
over the Legislature of the State of Georgia. In every 
campaign, both local and national, Mr. Bacon was an 
earnest champion of the cause of the Democratic Party, 
to which he always belonged. He was ready at all times 
to aid his party, and he rendered most effective service 
in its behalf. The Democratic national committee 
always availed itself of his services in the presidential 
campaigns, and his abilities were exerted in behalf of 
his party's candidates and in advocacy of its principles 
in many States. In 1894 he was elected to the United 
States Senate from the State of Georgia. While it is true 
that he was elected to this office by the legislature of his 
State, yet for the first time in the history of the State 
there had been held a primary in order that the voters 
might give expression to their choice for United States 
Senator, and when the legislature met the people had 
already declared by their votes that he was their choice 
for that high office. He entered the Senate in 1895, at 
the same time that I became a Member of the House of 
Representatives. In 1900, 1906, and again in 1912 the 
Democrats of the State of Georgia, in primary elections, 
selected him as United States Senator. In 1912, after the 

[78] 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 

amendment providing for the election of United States 
Senators by the people was adopted, he was elected Sena- 
tor by the people of the State, after having been nomi- 
nated in the primary, being the first United States Senator 
elected by the people under the seventeenth amendment 
to the Constitution. From the day of his entrance into 
the Senate he became a commanding figure in that body 
and immediately attracted the attention of the Senate and 
of the country. He soon demonstrated that he was fully 
equipped in every way to meet promptly in debate every 
question that arose. During his term of service many of 
the most important questions which have engaged the 
attention of the Senate were considered. He partici- 
pated in all the great debates that occurred there, often- 
times contending with the most distinguished Members 
of that body, and in no debate in which he engaged did 
he ever fail to demonstrate his ability to sustain and up- 
hold the dignity and honor of his high office. 

Intimately familiar with the history of our Republic, 
and thoroughly grounded and learned in the fundamental 
principles of our Government as contained in the charter 
of our liberties, the Constitution, he was ever its earnest 
defender, and no effort to infringe it, impair it, or de- 
stroy it was ever made that did not meet with prompt 
resistance from him. He believed in the traditions of 
our people and in the tradition of our Government, and 
at all times he stood firmly by them. Punctual in his 
attendance on the sessions of the Senate and assiduous 
in the performance of his duties, his great mentality was 
impressed upon nearly all the deliberations of that great 
body during the period of his service. Never did he per- 
mit his private business or personal fortunes to lure him 
from his duty as Senator. Although opposed vigorously 
in the last primary in which he was a candidate, he 
still remained at his post while the Senate was in session, 

[79] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

and the people, recognizing his ability and faithfulness, 
gave him a large majority and a vote of confidence. 
It may be truthfully said that during the 19 years of his 
service he was never absent from the Senate on account 
of private or personal business, and frequently he at- 
tended the sessions of the Senate and discharged his 
duties there when his physical condition was such that 
he should not have done so. 

Senator Bacon was a believer in and defender of the 
rights of the States, and on many occasions when they 
were sought to be invaded by the enactment of laws 
which undertook to confer unwarranted powers upon the 
Federal Government he delivered speeches of protest 
which will live as masterpieces of logic, of learning, and 
of eloquence. No stronger or more forceful speech was 
ever made in the Senate on that subject than the one 
which he delivered on the amendment that was offered 
to the proposed seventeenth amendment to the Consti- 
tution, providing for the election of United States Sena- 
tors by the people, in which he met and answered the 
arguments of the distinguished Senator from New York 
[Mr. Root], and the debate on that amendment will go 
down in history as one of the great debates in the Senate 
of the United States. 

Believing that this Government should not hold or own 
colonies, when the treaty involving the status and future 
of the Philippines was up for consideration he not only 
voted against its confirmation, but introduced a resolu- 
tion declaring it to be the purpose of the United States 
not to permanently retain the islands, but to give to the 
people of those islands independence and self-govern- 
ment. His speech upon this subject was listened to with 
profound interest in the Senate, and attracted the atten- 
tion of the people of the United States and of many coun- 
tries abroad. The debate on this subject between Senator 



[80] 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 



Bacon and Senator Spooner, of Wisconsin, has justly 
been characterized as one of the great debates of the 
Senate, and as recalling the days of Webster, Calhoun, 
and Clay. 

In the Sixty-second Congress, although the Republicans 
had a majority of the Senate, they were not able to agree 
upon a President pro tempore, and it became necessary 
for them to enter into an arrangement with the Demo- 
crats by which a Senator on the Democratic side should 
be selected as President pro tempore and also a Senator 
on the Republican side to serve as President pro tempore. 
On that occasion the Democrats unanimously selected 
Senator Bacon as their representative for this important 
position in the Senate. Called upon to preside over that 
most exalted and distinguished Senate in the world, Sen- 
ator Bacon presided with the ease, grace, dignity, and 
fairness for which he was noted; and when a great im- 
peachment trial was conducted before the Senate to try 
a judge who had been impeached by the House he was 
unanimously selected to preside. Nothing demonstrated 
so clearly as this action the confidence and esteem in 
which he was held by the Members of the Senate. 

When the Democrats elected the President and secured 
a majority of the Senate Senator Bacon was placed at the 
head of the Committee on Foreign Relations, having 
served upon that committee for years. It was during 
his service as chairman of that committee that the 
troubles in Mexico became acute, and there is no ques- 
tion but that the President of the United States advised 
with him daily and relied upon his sound judgment, his 
prudence, and his wide knowledge of international affairs 
in aiding him to maintain proper peaceful relations with 
the Mexican Government during that critical period. I 
have no doubt that the President of the United States 
now feels keenly the loss of his counsel and advice. 

87634°— 15 6 [81] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

His death was not only a surprise to us who were asso- 
ciated with him here, but it was a profound shock to the 
people of the State of Georgia. They sincerely mourned 
his death, and when his body was borne through the 
confines of the State to its last resting place at his home, 
Macon, Ga., at every station through which the- funeral 
train passed numbers of people gathered and, with bowed 
heads and sorrowing hearts, paid their respect and 
homage to him dead whom they had loved so well in life. 

He died at his post of duty, and I have no doubt if he 
could have chosen the hour and manner of his death 
this great man who had devoted his life to the public 
service of his people would have chosen to die as he 
did — at his post, at the front, with armor bright and un- 
tarnished, hale and vigorous, although full of honors and 
years. I know he would have preferred to face the dread 
summons with harness on rather than to have lain prone 
and broken by wasting disease. And I truly believe that 
all of us who are engaged in the discharge of public duty 
would prefer to meet the grim destroyer at our post. 

And could we choose the time, and choose aright, 

'Tis best to die, our honor at the height, 

When we have done our ancestor no shame, 

But served our friends, and well secured our fame. 

By direction of the governor of Georgia the body of 
Senator Bacon lay in state in the capitol at Atlanta. It 
was borne from the funeral train through a vast con- 
course of people gathered from all parts of the State to 
the rotunda of the capitol, where the body lay, and was 
viewed by thousands. And then we carried him to his 
home at Macon. All business there was suspended, and 
the people stood with uncovered heads around the bier 
of the man who had served them so faithfully and so 
long and whom they loved so well. His body was then 



[82] 



Address of Mr. Bartlett, of Georgia 



carried to its last resting place in Rose Hill Cemetery, to 
repose until the resurrection morn, when all shall appear 
before the great white throne to be adjudged for the 
deeds done in the flesh. 

In Senator Bacon's death a truly great man has been 
taken away from us. Georgia has sent many of her dis- 
tinguished sons to the Senate — Berrien, Toombs, Hill, 
Colquitt, Gordon, and others— and while some of them 
may have been more eloquent and possessed in greater 
degree with the power to sway assemblages of men, 
none excelled Senator Bacon in clearness of thought or 
reasoning power, nor was there anyone among that bright 
galaxy of names who was more truly devoted to the best 
interests of the State of Georgia. His memory will be 
cherished along with that of the other great men who 
have represented Georgia in the United States Senate as 
one entitled to receive the plaudits of the people and the 
encomium, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant." 

He loved his State as his fireside and his Nation as 
his home. Nationally broad minded, he accorded to the 
General Government all the rights that were granted to 
it by the Constitution, but at the same time he jealously 
protected the independent sovereignty of each State. He 
was proud of the position of the United States among 
the nations of the earth, yet he was so jealous of her 
integrity that in dealing with other nations he insisted 
that full justice should be meted out to them so as to 
enjoy their full faith and confidence. His was a patriot- 
ism that did not defend aggression and conquest, but his 
great powers were at all times exercised in the promotion 
of national security and peace. 



[83] 



Address of Mr. Adam son, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Among the first really great men I ever 
knew was Senator Bacon. A generation my senior, he 
had become celebrated as a Georgia legislator and had 
issued a law book — an analysis of the first 40 volumes of 
Georgia Reports — which was highly prized by the bar 
and remains to this day the best law book of the kind 
I ever saw. 

He was a great lawyer, a great parliamentarian, and 
eminent as a public-spirited, generous citizen. He was 
an astonishing compendium of universal information. 
He was at all times ready to discuss, and discuss accu- 
rately and minutely, any subject which any person he 
might meet was able to discuss at all. He was distin- 
guished for his dignity and urbanity. It was said of the 
old Roman statesmen that even in the throes and mad- 
ness of discord and faction they never lost their dignity 
nor forgot their respect for law and decorum. Senator 
Bacon would have been among Roman statesmen as emi- 
nent as he was among American statesmen. He was 
punctilious in all his association and contact with his 
fellow men, extremely considerate of others in all things, 
and a miracle of perpetual industry. 

When he was transferred from his Georgia work to the 
wider field of operations as a United States Senator he 
was as admirably equipped as any statesman ever called 
to the position from any State, and well did he maintain 
himself and illustrate the honor and greatness of the 
State of Georgia and her people. The whole country suf- 
fered an irreparable loss when Senator Bacon died. Of 
course his friends, his familv, and his beloved State of 



[84] 



Address of Mr. Adamson, of Georgia 

Georgia more deeply feel the immediate loss. A life- 
long friend and associate of Senator Bacon, Hon. John T. 
Boifeuillet, of Macon, Ga., for many years his private sec- 
retary, better acquainted with him perhaps than any other 
man who ever associated with him, has prepared a beau- 
tiful tribute, true and just, to the life, character, and 
public services of Senator Bacon, which I shall appro- 
priate here as a part of my remarks. They more nearly 
do Senator Bacon justice than I am able to do. 

Tribute of Hon. John T. Boifeuillet 

In him was— 

A combination and a form indeed, 

Where every god did seem to set his seal, 

To give the world assurance of a man. 

The melancholy tidings of the death of Senator Augus- 
tus O. Bacon, on February 14, 1914, in the city of Wash- 
ington, plunged the people of his native State of Georgia 
into mourning and were heard with sadness throughout 
this entire country and in many distant lands. The 
Senate was in session at the hour of his demise, and the 
announcement of the unexpected and distressing event 
carried grief to the heart of every Senator. A deep and 
solemn stillness instantly pervaded the Chamber, for all 
realized that one of the pillars of the Senate had fallen. 

The Senate immediately adjourned for the day, sor- 
rowfully and tearfully. 

Desiring to pay to his memory that love, honor, and 
respect so eminently due, and which the Senators felt 
and entertained in such profound degree, his lifeless form 
a few days later was borne into the Senate Chamber, so 
long cherished and beloved by him, and, in the impos- 
ing presence of the Vice President, the members of the 
Cabinet, the Speaker of the House, Senators and Rep- 



[85] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

resentatives, the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of 
the Supreme Court, diplomats, and other public func- 
tionaries, and the galleries crowded to their utmost 
capacity with sorrowing friends, impressive religious 
ceremonies were held. The body, escorted by a delega- 
tion from the Senate and House, was carried to Georgia 
for interment in Macon, the Senator's home city, and 
when Atlanta, the capital of the State, was reached it 
was met at the depot by a vast concourse of citizens and 
the military, headed by the governor and all the state- 
house officers, members of the various courts, and Con- 
federate veterans. Fifty thousand mourning people lined 
the streets along which the great funeral procession 
passed from the depot to the capitol, where the remains 
lay in state for several hours and were viewed by more 
than 10,000 persons. No greater demonstration of love 
was ever paid to any other Georgian, living or dead. 

Upon the arrival of the body at Macon there was an- 
other great outpouring of the people in honor of the 
memory of the distinguished dead. The remains were 
placed in the city hall, and all during the night that they 
rested there a steady stream of grief-stricken friends 
flowed past the bier. On the day of the burial there was 
a remarkable display of deepest feeling. The mournful 
cadence of the people's sorrow was heard throughout the 
borders of the State. The overshadowing gloom bespoke 
their woe. 

Under the blue skies and fleecy clouds of his beloved 
Southland, he lies in his final earthly rest in beautiful 
Rose Hill Cemetery, where the rustling murmurings of 
the foliage speak in answering language to the changeful 
melodies of the near-by river, and where bloom the 
forget-me-nots of affectionate remembrance and the im- 
mortelles of lasting regret. There the early swallow 
warbles his paean to the morning air, and the night bird's 

* 

[86] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 



evening carol blends with the purling of the starlit 
streams. 

The night dew that falls, though in silence it weeps, 
Shall brighten with verdure the grave where he sleeps; 
And the tear that we shed, though in secret it rolls, 
Shall long keep his memory green in our souls. 

My relations with him have been one of the joys of the 
heart to me, and the remembrance of them will linger 
like the fragrance of roses that are faded and gone. In 
the early morning hour, when the orb of day is bursting 
away from the blue hills and the birds are singing in the 
meadows, his face will be before me. In the rich ray of 
noonday splendor, when the sun is shining in the zenith 
of his power, his face w T ill be before me. At sunset, 
when the "golden gates of the resplendent west" seem 
hanging in a sea of glory, his face will be before me. At 
twilight, when the crimson sky has faded and heaven's 
light is serene above, his face will be before me. In the 
mysterious silence of midnight, "when the streams are 
glowing in the light of the many stars," his image will 
come floating upon the beam that lingers around my 
pillow. 

Senator Bacon impressed himself forcibly upon the 
minds and hearts of his fellow countrymen, not only on 
account of his great ability and lofty patriotism, but be- 
cause they had absolute faith in the integrity of his mo- 
tives and in the rectitude of his purposes. They had 
perfect confidence in the sincerity of his actions, and 
placed the fullest trust in his unfaltering devotion to the 
highest ideals of his office. He abhorred hypocrisy and 
deceit. Envy had no place in his heart. He was in- 
capable of the insidious wiles of the crafty politician. 
He never attempted to employ the arts of the self-seeking 
demagogue. He was always guided by a high sense of 



[87] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

duty. He was " in action faithful, and in honor clear." 
His principle was to act right, regardless of personal 
consequences. He sought to do equal and exact justice 
to all. 

In illustration of his uprightness and justice, it can be 
stated that once when there was talk that certain im- 
peachment proceedings might be instituted, he was asked, 
in a party of political supporters who favored the pro- 
posed impeachment, how he would vote in the event 
the trial was held. His stern and independent reply 
was in the firm and bold spirit of the memorable response 
of Lord Coke to James I, King of England: 

When the case happens, I shall do that which it shall be fit for 
a judge to do. 

The saying of the Greeks can be appropriately applied 
to Senator Bacon : 

What Themistocles was to the rest of the Athenians in acute 
foresight, wisdom, and vigor, Aristides was to every statesman in 
Greece in incomparable purity and integrity of public life, and no 
one has dared to dispute his well-won title of The Just. 

Immediately upon Senator Bacon's entrance into the 
Senate he took rank with the leaders by reason of his 
fine ability ? his tact as a parliamentarian, his knowledge 
of legislative procedure, and his familiarity with public 
affairs. His ripe experience and mature judgment, his 
legal learning and forensic talents, his dignified bearing 
and courtly manners, gave him instant prestige. He grew 
steadily into a national figure, and was a commanding 
influence in the senatorial contests of his time. He was 
capable of filling the highest position under the Govern- 
ment. In him were embodied all the elements of a states- 
man and a patriot. The love of country was in his heart. 
His career was eminent. 



[88] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 



Senator Bacon planted himself firmly upon the Consti- 
tution of his country. To him it was " a pillar of cloud 
by day and a pillar of fire by night." He was its sleepless 
guard and valiant defender. He believed that the spirit 
of the Constitution would live as long as our civilization 
blessed us with a full appreciation of the benefits of 
government and the joys of liberty. 

He regarded the honor, the rights, and the dignity of 
the Senate as high and sacred trusts. 

No man has been truer, or firmer, or bolder in espous- 
ing Democratic principles, upholding State rights, advo- 
cating white supremacy, and resisting any usurpation of 
power. He met with manly firmness every responsibility 
imposed upon him. 

Senator Bacon had bravely battled as a Confederate 
soldier, and was ever the able, active, and earnest cham- 
pion of the South, her institutions, and her people; yet, 
as a Senator of the United States, he appreciated and 
realized that to him, in part, had been confided the honor, 
safety, and peace of the entire country, and that he was 
intrusted with large powers in the exercise of which 
happiness or misery, prosperity or adversity would re- 
sult to the Nation. It was his aspiration that this Re- 
public might be forever blessed with wise, humane, and 
beneficent government. He was ever ready to say 
" peace, be still " to the angry elements of discord and 
the stormy waters of sectional dissensions. His patriotic 
love and solicitude reached to the utmost circle of the 
land. He could say with Prince Edward, when contem- 
plating the long War of the Roses and the cheering pros- 
pects of its termination : 

Free from the passionate animosities of either faction — Yorkist 
and Lancastrian — whether victor from the field of Towton or 
St. Albans, are but Englishmen to me, to whom I can accord jus- 
tice to all who serve, pardon to all who oppose. 



[89] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Senator Bacon " knew enough of the world to know 
that there was nothing in it better than the faithful 
service of the heart." He walked in the paths of honor. 
He was the unsullied gentleman. He measured up to the 
true test of fidelity which is constancy in the hour of 
peril, devotion in the season of affliction. In integrity of 
character, in capacity and learning, in patriotism, and as 
one tried and proven in the public service, he stands 
forth an example for the emulation of youth. By his 
labors education was advanced, industry promoted, re- 
sources developed, society protected, the personal and 
material interests of the citizen guarded, and civil and 
religious liberty preserved. He has left a rich legacy to 
his family and friends — the legacy of an honorable and 
useful life. 

Senator Bacon took the oath of office as a Senator on 
March 4, 1895. Of this class there now remain in the 
Senate only two of his Democratic colleagues, the senior 
Senator from South Carolina, Mr. Tillman, and the 
senior Senator from Virginia, Mr. Martin, and on the 
Republican side there are only the senior Senator from 
Wyoming, Mr. Warren, and the senior Senator from 
Minnesota, Mr. Nelson. 

Never in the history of the Senate has there been a 
Senator more punctual in his attendance upon its ses- 
sions. The remarkable fact can be stated to his enduring 
credit that in a service of 19 years he was never absent 
from his seat a day except from providential causes. 
Neither his personal business nor pleasure drew him 
away in a single instance. So absolutely devoted was he 
to his senatorial work that he gave up ever}' thought of 
everything else in the way of occupation, and his greatest 
ambition was to be thought worthy of the place by those 
who so greatly honored and trusted him, to deserve their 
approbation and continued friendship, and to do all in 

[90] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 



his power to serve their interests to the very best of his 
ability. Anybody who has been in touch with affairs at 
Washington knows that he was unremitting in his labors, 
untiring in his activities. 

In 1912, when Senator Bacon was a candidate for re- 
nomination in the primary and had active opposition, 
he jeopardized his interests by refusing to absent him- 
self a moment from the Senate to go to Georgia to par- 
ticipate in the campaign. He was unwilling to neglect 
the public interests by abandoning his place here to ad- 
vance his political welfare. He said that his duty and 
obligations required his presence in Washington, and 
he would leave his candidacy in the hands and care of 
his constituents. He declared that at last his struggles 
must be in the confidence of the people, and that con- 
fidence largely rested upon the opinions and judgment 
of men as to how efficiently he had performed his work 
and whether he had been faithful and true to his trust. 
That he had the confidence and love, the praise and 
gratitude of his people, that they realized in fullest meas- 
ure the great value and influence of his able and patriotic 
services, that they recognized the honor and dignity 
which always characterized his personal and official life, 
and that they appreciated the distinction and eminence 
achieved by him were attested by the fact that he was 
overwhelmingly renominated, and in 1913 was unani- 
mously reelected by popular vote. 

Senator Bacon had the distinction of being the first 
Senator elected from the State of Georgia to the third 
consecutive term and the only Senator ever elected for 
four terms. He possessed the further distinction of hav- 
ing been the first Senator elected in the United States 
under the amendment to the Federal Constitution pro- 
viding for the election of United States Senators by direct 
vote of the people. 

[91] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

He was elected President pro tempore of the Senate in 
the Sixty-second Congress, serving a part of the years 
1912 and 1913, and performed the duties of the office 
ably, impartially, expeditiously, and with dignity and 
courtesy. He was justly recognized as one of the ablest 
parliamentarians and most accomplished presiding offi- 
cers ever in either branch of Congress. Before entering 
the Senate he had served eight years as speaker of the 
House of Representatives of Georgia. No other Georgian 
was ever speaker for so long a time. Until Senator Bacon 
became President pro tempore of the Senate it had been 
100 years since a Georgia Senator had held that office. 
The last Georgian prior to him was the great William H. 
Crawford, who was President pro tempore during the 
Twelfth Congress, which convened on November 4, 1811, 
and adjourned on March 3, 1813. In October, 1912, when 
Vice President Sherman, who was President of the Sen- 
ate, died, Senator Bacon was President pro tempore, and 
to him fell making the arrangements' for the Senate's 
participation in the funeral ceremonies. On the second 
Wednesday in Februar}% 1913, when, according to law, 
the Members of the Senate and House assembled together 
in the House to open and count the electoral votes for 
President and Vice President of the United States, Sena- 
tor Bacon, as President pro tempore, presided over the 
joint session and officially proclaimed the result and de- 
clared Woodrow Wilson and Thomas R. Marshall duly 
elected. 

A distinct compliment was paid him when he was 
chosen by the Senate to preside over the Archbald court 
of impeachment, especially so in view of the fact that the 
defendant was of a different political faith from Senator 
Bacon and the Senator a member of the minority party 
in the Senate at the time. The ability, fairness, ease, and 
dignity with which he presided provoked universal enco- 



[92] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 



miums. All of his rulings in this trial were sustained, 
though the hearing lasted for several weeks and there 
were 11 able and earnest lawyers in the case. 

Senator Bacon was a member of a number of com- 
mittees which are powerful factors in determining much 
important legislation. His favorites were the Com- 
mittees on the Judiciary, Foreign Belations, and Rules. 
He was a member of the Judiciary Committee for 17 
years, of the Foreign Relations Committee for 15 years, 
and of the Rules Committee for 13 years. He had been 
the ranking Democratic member on each of these com- 
mittees for many years, while the Republicans were in 
the majority in the Senate; and upon the Democratic 
reorganization of the Senate in March, 1913, he could 
have had, not only because of his preeminent qualifica- 
tions but, according to precedent, practice, and the rule 
of seniority, the chairmanship of either of these com- 
mittees he preferred. He was peculiarly well fitted to 
be at the head of the Judiciary Committee, as he was a 
sound constitutional lawyer, with broad and varied ex- 
perience at the practice. Likewise he was thoroughly 
equipped to be the leader of the Rules Committee, be- 
cause of his perfect familiarity with Senate procedure 
and complete knowledge of parliamentary law. He se- 
lected the chairmanship of the great, important, and 
influential Committee on Foreign Relations, for which 
he was splendidly qualified. Always conspicuous in the 
Senate, he was particularly prominent in matters apper- 
taining to foreign relations. Senator Bacon had made 
a special study of the question of treaties and of inter- 
national law generally, and in addition had traveled 
extensively abroad, studying the conditions and customs 
of the people and their forms of government, all of which 
were of great assistance and material value to him in 
the discharge of his onerous duties as chairman. His 

[93] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



wise counsel and sound judgment, his clear perceptions 
and farsighted vision, his high sense of right and justice, 
and his broad American patriotism made him eminently 
strong, influential, and useful in this responsible position. 
His deliberations were deep and conscientious, and his 
attitude was that of a man with a wide and true human 
interest. The committee has never had a chairman 
better fitted than Senator Bacon was for the exalted trust, 
one more eminent in all those qualities necessary to the 
discharge of the high functions of the office. That he was 
regarded as just and fair in his consideration of Pan 
American affairs is shown by the following resolution of 
sympathy which was adopted on his death by the assem- 
bly of the Department of Santander, Colombia : 

Interpreting the patriotic sentiments of the worthy people 
whom it represents, and considering the expression of its sym- 
pathy and appreciation as an act of justice to those who have 
labored, or labor, for the supreme rights of the country and hu- 
manity, it deeply regrets the death of Senator Bacon, who placed 
his highest abilities at the services of Colombia and the weak 
nations, battling for her in the Congress of his country, in con- 
nection with the events that took place in Panama. 

President Wilson and Secretary of State Bryan continu- 
ally sought his counsel and advice. For weeks at a time 
during the severe stress of the Mexican trouble and while 
the arbitration treaties were pending Senator Bacon was 
in almost daily conference either at the White House or 
at the Department of State. Referring to a certain im- 
portant diplomatic matter, the President said in a note 
written to the Senator shortly before his last illness: 

I have already told you how I appreciate your efforts to sow the 
right impressions and expectations, but I want to tell you again 
how much I value your cooperation. 



[94] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 

In a still later note, with reference to a communication 
Senator Bacon had written to Secretary Bryan concern- 
ing a critical foreign question, the President wrote : 

I am sincerely obliged to you. It has helped to clear my 
thinking. 

Not long before the Senator's death he received a cor- 
dial note from the President, relating to a very serious 
subject, in which he said: 

The way in which you have handled the matter makes me warm 
around the heart. I certainly feel deeply grateful for the support 
you are giving me. You have my sincere appreciation. 

Senator Bacon was a self-immolated martyr to his offi- 
cial duty. During the last week that he was at the 
Capitol in the discharge of his labors an insidious fever 
had seized upon him and he should have been at home 
in his bed, particularly as the earth was covered with a 
heavy mantle of snow, sleet was falling, and all weather 
conditions were very bad. But so anxious was he to 
have certain important treaty matters reported out of 
the committee to the Senate that he held three meet- 
ings of the Committee on Foreign Relations on three sepa- 
rate days that week, and the desired action in regard to 
the treaties was taken, and the report was made by 
Senator Bacon to the Senate. The third and last meeting 
was held on Friday. On leaving his office that afternoon, 
at the close of the Senate's session, Senator Bacon re- 
marked that his fever was quite high and he apprehended 
he would be unable to be at the Capitol the following day. 
He never returned, save when his lifeless body was borne 
into the Senate Chamber about two weeks later for the 
funeral obsequies. 

Senator Bacon was qualified for the prompt and intel- 
ligent consideration of every governmental question 
which was presented for his action. He was possessed of 

[95] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

a learning which richly entitled him to the credit of a 
scholar. He was well grounded in the fundamental prin- 
ciples upon which rest the laws which he was called upon 
to efl'ect by legislation. He was versed in the whole 
science of political economy. He was perfectly familiar 
with the history of his own land, and in this way had 
that knowledge requisite for a proper understanding and 
appreciation of the institutions and laws of his country. 
Consequently, he took active part in the discussions of 
every great subject that came before the Senate during 
his remarkable career of 19 years. There is scarcely a 
number of the Congressional Record in that time that 
does not contain the evidences of his work. 

His speeches covered a wide range of topics. They 
embraced every momentous subject affecting the growth, 
development, and prosperity of the whole country and 
contributing to the peace, contentment, and happiness of 
all the people. While he was forceful, logical, illuminat- 
ing, and informing at all times, whether discussing the 
tariff', currency, railroad rates, and postal affairs or de- 
bating the rights of the Senate, election of Senators by 
popular vote, agriculture, commerce, and education, he 
was never more potent, earnest, lucid, and interesting 
than when arguing constitutional questions and matters 
of international law and foreign relations. His speeches 
on these three last-named subjects showed the acute mind 
and the farseeing eye, and not only made their impress 
upon the Senate and throughout this country, but at- 
tracted marked attention across the seas. 

One of his memorable speeches was delivered on a 
resolution introduced by him "declaring the purpose of 
the United States not permanently to retain the Philip- 
pine Islands, but to give the people thereof their liberty." 
This effort was an oration which recalled " the first race 
of American statesmen." This Nation and foreign lands 



[96] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 



became deeply engrossed in the discussion which the 
proposition provoked. Amid intense interest the vote 
was taken on the resolution, and it resulted in a tie. The 
Vice President cast his vote in opposition, and the reso- 
lution was lost. 

One of the first intellects in this Republic to-day is 
former Senator Spooner, of Wisconsin. He has achieved 
eminence at the bar and won distinction in the public 
service. When in the Senate he was a man of mark 
and power. He and Senator Bacon often met in intel- 
lectual contest in that great field of oratorical triumphs. 
Referring to a debate which occurred between them in 
February, 1906, the Hartford (Conn.) Courant made the 
following complimentary and interesting editorial com- 
ment: 

Take down an old volume of the Congressional Globe and read 
one of the debates on foreign affairs in which Lewis Cass and 
John M. Clayton were pitted against each other — for instance, the 
debate (famous in its time) on the merits of the Clayton-Bulwer 
treaty. Then take Monday's Congressional Record and read the 
report therein of the debate between Mr. Bacon, of Georgia, and 
Mr. Spooner, of Wisconsin, on the constitutional powers of the 
President and Senate in treaty making. It would be scant praise 
to say that the Bacon-Spooner debate is the more readable of the 
two. For intellectual vigor, grip of the matter in hand, compact- 
ness and lucidity in statement, brisk alertness in the give and 
take of dialectic fence, and last, but not least, good English, the 
Bacon-Spooner debate is the abler of the two. Daniel Webster 
would have listened to every word of it attentively, with keen 
interest and pleasure; Calhoun and Clay also. 

In speaking, Senator Bacon seldom left the lines of 
logical argument and philosophical reasoning, but at 
times he would employ pathos, love, and beauty as mes- 
sengers to men's hearts. There was in his nature a touch 
of the tenderest sentiment. In closing his remarks in 
the Senate on the resolution to establish a "Mother's 

87634°— 15 7 [97] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Day," and to observe it by wearing a white flower, he 
said: 

Mr. President, unfortunately for me, a white rose will not bring 
back to me the memory of my mother, for I have no memory of 
her. I was not a year old when she died. But I would wear it, 
Mr. President, not because of danger that I would forget I owe to 
her my life, but because I would be glad of the opportunity to 
manifest the fact that although I do not remember ever to have 
seen her, I have always loved her memory. 

It may be pathetically remarked in this connection 
that Senator Bacon's father died several months before 
the Senator was born. 

The Senate is an unsurpassed field for the display of 
genuine talent. Here Senator Bacon's genius was in its 
first action. He had an " iron memory," and such were 
the resources of his mind and so abounding was the 
wealth of his information that he delivered his great 
speeches without the use of manuscript. During the long 
period I was connected with him I never knew him to pre- 
pare in writing any of his notable efforts. The only pages 
which he had were " the leaves which he tore out from 
the vast volume of his mind." Nature had smoothed a 
channel for his thoughts, and his ideas easily flowed in 
clear streams. He delivered exhaustive arguments on 
the tariff and finance, spoke elaborately on profound 
matters of law, and discussed momentous affairs of state 
without a moment's preparation, speaking entirely im- 
promptu, on the impulse of the instant. Yet his pres- 
entation of the subject was like a brilliant panorama — 
everything had been made clear and visible to the sight 
and understanding. 

He delivered more than 50 able and strong extempo- 
raneous addresses, which, if they had been made by 
many other men, would have been " set speeches," pre- 



[98] 



Tribute of Mr. John T. Boifeuillet 



pared after great effort and long time, reduced to writing, 
and spoken from manuscript. 

The march of his mind through his subject was daunt- 
less and resistless — the triumphal progress of King 
Thought. 

When he arose to speak Senators gave instant and close 
attention and visitors in the galleries manifested the 
keenest interest. Everyone had a listening ear. 

Senator Bacon always took position immediately at his 
desk while speaking. Neither his own zeal nor the ex- 
citement of others caused him to move away from this 
accustomed place. He stood a Saul among Titans. Like 
some gigantic oak in the forest, he towered among his 
fellows, unshakingly facing the storm of debate, un- 
swayed by the winds of passion, and calmly surveying 
the scene when the rushing turbulence of the hour had 
subsided. As he faced an opponent in discussion he bore 
the unclouded brow and noble mien of the highest type 
of statesman. His imposing presence carried with it the 
innate dignity of command which "girded him as with 
a sword of power." His inherent courtesy and courtli- 
ness won cheerful homage. 

Senator Bacon loved truth — that essence of the highest 
manhood, that indestructible power whose victories are 
"hymned by harps which are strung to the glories of the 
skies" and, like God Himself, lives on and on, "the same 
yesterday, to-day, and forever." During the many years 
I was associated with Senator Bacon I never heard him 
prevaricate or equivocate in the slightest degree to any 
person, and at no time did he ever temporize with or 
deceive or mislead anyone who sought his personal aid 
or official assistance. He was not of those that "keep the 
word of promise to our ear, and break it to our hope." 
He was a striking model of candor and frankness. 



[99] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Truth and sincerity ran like silver currents through his 
nature. 

Senator Bacon believed in the existence of a Supreme 
Ruler, who sits upon a throne past which the waves of 
ages have rolled, to whom all nature bows, who made all 
worlds, and controls the destiny of all created things. He 
believed that man was born for a higher purpose than 
that of earth and at the close of his mortal life was not 
to sink into everlasting darkness and nothingness, but 
would live again in the unclouded brightness of the celes- 
tial regions beyond the stars. That such was his belief, 
and that he placed a tender reliance on the mercies of 
the Almighty, is shown by these opening and impressive 
words in his last will and testament, written with his 
own hand something more than a year before he died: 

I commit my soul to God, in the humble hope that in spite of 
my many weaknesses, imperfections, faults, and misdeeds, I 
shall be reunited in a happy immortality with my kindred and 
friends, and particularly with the members of my immediate 
family, to whose happiness and welfare my life has been gladly 
and unsparingly devoted. 

May we not fondly hope that he has already had a joy- 
ous meeting in the realms of the blessed with those loved 
beings who preceded him to the voiceless land, and that 
his dear ones now on earth, when they have crossed over 
the river, shall dwell with him eternally on the shining 
and peaceful shores? I fervently pray that when the final 
summons comes that takes us from these earthly scenes 
we shall be reunited with him in that wondrous sphere 
where chant the white-winged angels of glory, and there 
"bask forever in the sunshine of the love of God." 

With us his name shall live 

Through long succeeding years, 
Embalmed with all our hearts can give, 

Our praises and our tears. 



[100] 



Address of Mr. Parker, of New Jersey 

Mr. Speaker: No one ever really knew Senator Bacon 
without becoming his friend. There was a simplicity 
about his character that was winning. Of all the states- 
men I have ever known, he tried most to live the simple 
life, without ostentation, without show, and yet his pres- 
ence was desired wherever it could be obtained. He was 
so kind and so loyal; he was so devoted to what he 
thought were the duties of his high office; he had such a 
strong feeling of the independence of Congress and of 
the duty of every Member to do as he thought right, to 
vote as he thought, right, and to maintain the rights of 
Congress against all attack or invasion. 

I remember well when it was proposed that a commis- 
sion should be appointed, two by the President, two from 
the Senate, and two from the House, that in conference 
and on the floor in the Senate he absolutely insisted that 
the report of that commission should be made to the 
Congress and not to the President; and agreement was 
impossible until I finally suggested, and he adopted the 
suggestion, that as a part of the members had been ap- 
pointed by the President, the commission should report 
to Congress through the President. I give this only as 
an example of his earnestness in what he thought was 
necessary. 

He was a great constitutional lawyer. He loved the 
Constitution as it came to us from our forefathers. He 
loved it with all his heart and soul, and was ready to fight 
for it in the Senate at all times, as well as for the rights 
of the States under the Constitution. 



[101] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

But I have got away from what I meant to say. I 
meant to speak more of the man, of the warmth of his 
affection for those whom he loved, of the warmth of 
the affection which he inspired in those who knew him, 
and of his absolute freedom from any of those personal 
ambitions or personal rancors which would at all impair 
the value of such a friendship. Not only in the warmth 
but in the absolute loyalty of his affection for his friends 
he was almost unique. He was greatly beloved, and his 
death was felt as a loss, not only by men of all parties, 
but by a wide circle of friends throughout the whole 
United States. 



[102] 



Address of Mr. Lee, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: In the death of Senator Bacon the people 
of the whole country, no less than the people of Georgia, 
suffered an immeasurable loss. He was in the fullest 
sense of the word a Senator of the United States. His 
mental vision reached to the farthest horizon of the Re- 
public's needs and powers. He was as jealous of his 
country's honor and greatness as of the honor and great- 
ness of the State whose commission he held. He was as 
passionately devoted in his service to both as so knightly 
a champion of right and justice and purest love of coun- 
try could be. To us of Georgia his untimely death came 
with a shock of a personal grief, for we had seen him 
rise step by step to the high pinnacle of renown on which 
he stood when death called him. And so, when he was 
laid to rest amid the whispering trees of Macon's beauti- 
ful " garden of peace," all the people of his beloved State 
breathed benedictions on his grave. 

Mr. Bacon hardly knew parental love. His father died 
before he was born and his mother when he was but a 
year old. He was reared by his grandmother, and under 
her guidance he passed the earliest years of his life. 
After passing through the public schools of his county 
he entered the University of Georgia when but 16 years 
of age. By that institution several academic degrees were 
conferred upon him — the last one that of doctor of laws, 
bestowed upon him in 1909. For many years and up to 
the time of his death he was a trustee of the university. 
In less than a year after his graduation he entered the 
Confederate Army, and at the close of the war was mus- 



[103] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



tered out with the rank of captain. Immediately he re- 
sumed his legal studies, and entered upon the practice of 
the law in Macon. 

His natural talents and eminent attainments rapidly 
secured for him a high rank in the profession and also 
drew the attention of his neighbors to his fitness in the 
arena of politics. Thus it came that for 14 years he 
served in the Georgia House of Representatives, and for 
10 years of that period presided as speaker over the de- 
liberations of that body. In 1894 he was elected a Sena- 
tor of the United States. His service in that body ex- 
tended over 19 years. He died after the first year of his 
fourth term, for which latter he was chosen by the unani- 
mous vote of the people of Georgia at the first election 
held under the mandate of the seventeenth amendment 
to the Constitution. 

In the Senate he soon took rank with the ablest of his 
colleagues. At the time of his death he was chairman of 
the Committee on Foreign Relations, and, besides, a 
member of the Committees on Judiciary, Rules, Rail- 
roads, Private Land Claims, and Expenditures in the 
Post Office Department. On all of these he distinguished 
himself by unflagging application to the work in hand 
and his great acumen in determining the real merits in 
each particular case. It was, however, as member and 
chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations that he 
found his most congenial work, because from his youth 
he had been a close student of history and the lessons it 
teaches. His .judgment was rarely at fault, and was 
highly esteemed by his associates. 

Just as he was exemplary in his committee service, so 
he was in his attendance and work in the Senate Cham- 
ber. He gave to all questions the closest attention and 
scrutiny. The pages of the Congressional Record bear 
evidence of his fidelity to the best interests of the Re- 

[104] 



Address of Mr. Lee, of Georgia 



public. No debate on an important subject occurred but 
he had a part in it. Mr. Bacon was not an ornate speaker. 
He did not seek to dazzle his audience with great flights 
of oratory or entertain them by relation of anecdotes and 
witty sayings. His speeches are marked more by pro- 
found reasoning and lucidity of deduction than by bril- 
liancy of form. His mental resources were apparently 
inexhaustible. He was never at a loss for illustration or 
precedent. In every debate in which he engaged he had 
his facts marshaled in orderly array; nor was the con- 
tinuity of his argument ever disturbed by the most in- 
genious or seductive artifices of opposing speakers. 

Mr. Bacon's mental integrity showed brightly in every- 
thing he said, as it did in every act of his life. He could 
no more lend voice or vote to anything to which he could 
not give whole-hearted support than he could have done 
an outright unjust act. His action had to square in every 
instance with his truest convictions. With these he could 
not palter. If ever I knew a man who lived up to the 
noble counsel given by Polonius to his son — 

To thine own self be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 

Thou canst not then be false to any man — 

That man was Augustus Bacon. 

Mr. Bacon was true to the best traditions of the Demo- 
cratic Party. He frowned upon the acquisition of colo- 
nial possessions, of territory lying outside of and beyond 
the borders of the United States. He was a "strict con- 
structionist" in the best sense of those words as applied 
to an interpretation of the letter and spirit of the Con- 
stitution. During his service in the Senate he partici- 
pated in two great tariff debates — those on the Dingley 
bill in 1900 and again on the Payne-Aldrich bill nine 
years later. His thorough understanding of economic 

[105] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

principles and his keen analysis of the details of the 
various schedules were a new revelation of the powers 
of his intellect even to those who thought they had 
gauged his mental gifts to the fullest extent. His 
speeches are among the most notable contributions to the 
history of those enactments. 

It would carry me too far afield, Mr. Speaker, if I were 
to attempt to recount in all their bearings and aspects 
the many achievements of this distinguished Georgian. 
My feeble tribute to his memory embraces the broad 
sweep of his whole public life. In that he has erected 
his own enduring monument, for no history of the Senate 
of the United States for the two decades of his activity 
there can be written which will not assign one of the most 
conspicuous pages to his work. 

Mr. Bacon was thought by many to be austere and un- 
sociable. This was a false estimate of his nature. It is 
true that while he was at all times courteous to those who 
approached him, there were comparatively few privileged 
to penetrate to the sanctuary of his inner self. To these 
few, however, he disclosed the full charm of as gentle a 
heart as ever beat in a man's breast, and upon them he 
lavished in unstinted measure the treasures of his well- 
stored mind. Himself chastened by great sorrow, his 
sympathy went out to others tried in the fiery furnace. 
Where gentle solace could give comfort he bestowed it 
freely, nor did the needy ever appeal to him in vain. No 
Senator was ever held in greater respect by all his col- 
leagues; none more affectionately regarded by those who 
came into closer contact with him. 

When Augustus Bacon answered the final roll call he 
had passed the scriptural age of three score and ten years. 
The grim reaper had no terrors for him. He had led a 
noble, pure, and upright life. 



[106] 



Address of Mr. Mann, of Illinois 

Mr. Speaker: It is in no sense a lack of appreciation of 
the abilities and services of those who have succeeded 
Senator Bacon to say that at this critical situation in the 
world's history we would very much appreciate now if 
we had his services and his wise counsel. When he 
passed away he was chairman of the great Committee 
on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and I do not doubt 
that both the President and the Senators and this House 
and all the country would be glad if they could enjoy 
his advice and his counsel as Senator and as chairman 
of that committee which has more to do with our foreign 
relations than any other committee of Congress. 

Senator Bacon was a Senator who believed in orderly 
procedure. He was well versed in parliamentary law 
and procedure and believed it were wiser to follow the 
orderly procedure of legislative bodies, and he always 
insisted that that should be done. 

However, I knew Senator Bacon better, I think, because 
I served with him on the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
sonian Institution for a number of years. The Chief 
Justice of the United States, the Vice President of the 
United States, were members of that body. There were 
Senator Cullom, Senator Lodge, and Senator Bacon, 
Members from the Senate. There were Mr. Howard, of 
Georgia, from the House, Mr. Dalzell from the House, and 
myself, upon the board, besides a number of distin- 
guished citizens who had been elected by Congress as 
Regents. 

And among these men, most of them of strong force 
and great prominence, the advice and counsel of Senator 

[107] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Bacon was always sought, and his advice was usually 
followed. We became rather strong friends on that 
board. Senator Bacon when you reached him had a most 
genial heart and manner. I remember that only a few 
days before he died, I think possibly almost the last time 
when he attended the Senate, we met out here on the 
plaza, I coming one way and he going to the Senate the 
other way. It always has touched me rather deeply that 
at that time he was expressing a desire to do something 
for me personally, which he did do. It is not necessary 
now to say what it was, but when I heard of his illness, 
and, then, shortly after, of his death, immediately follow- 
ing this occurrence, where he had gone out of his way 
considerably to do me a personal favor, it touched me 
more deeply than almost any other occasion of my re- 
cent life. 

Georgia has been very eminent in the history of our 
country. Georgia has reason to be proud and grateful 
that she had an opportunity and took the occasion to send 
to the Senate of the United States a man like Senator 
Bacon, who exercised such a strong influence in the right 
direction upon the history and progress of our country. 



[108] 



Address of Mr. Ferris, of Oklahoma 

Mr. Speaker: When Senator Augustus O. Bacon was 
overtaken by the grim reaper he had reached his 
seventy-fifth year. Each day of this more than the aver- 
age tenure of life had been active; each day he had stood 
out among his fellow men as a sturdy oak in the prime- 
val forest. Death always comes too soon, but when we 
recount the activities, the sterling qualities of this most 
remarkable man it intensifies a truth that is axiomatic. 

Being myself a Member of the lower branch of the 
Congress and not being a usual frequenter of the Senate, 
I can not even yet as I enter the door of yonder Chamber 
but look about me in bewilderment and think " Where is 
Senator Bacon? " My second thought reminds me that he 
is called home to his reward, that he has crossed the river 
to rest under the shade of yonder tree, and then, even 
though I be a resident of a State far removed from Geor- 
gia, even though a Member of another branch of the 
Congress, and even though a Member much his junior in 
years, each time I pause and think of the loss sustained. 

It was my pleasure to meet Senator BacoSt when I first 
came to Congress upon the admission of our new State 
into the Union, and while I look back at that time and 
observe my inexperience, inefficiency, I can not but recall' 
the tenderness, sincerity, and patience always accorded 
me by this most remarkable man. It almost seemed to me 
that my cares became his cares; it almost seemed to 
me that my shortcomings vanished and passed away 
and he supplanted in their stead hope of accomplishment 
and success in the end. Later, the distinguished Speaker 
of the American House of Bepresentatives — Speaker 



[109] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

Champ Clark — upon our coming into power at the House 
end of the Capitol in 1910, honored me by appointing me 
a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian 
Institution. For almost four years it was my pleasure to 
sit as a member of the Board of Regents from the House 
with Senator Bacon as a member of that body from the 
Senate of the United States. 

During the last three years of his life Senator Bacon 
was a member of the executive committee of the Board 
of Regents, and played an important and forceful part 
in directing the destiny of the great institution. This 
service on that board enabled me to know intimately the 
real worth of Senator Bacon. This intimate acquaint- 
ance enables me to speak more feelingly upon this oc- 
casion than I otherwise could. This coming in close con- 
tact with Senator Bacon enables me to understand why 
he was recognized everywhere as a valiant, brilliant, cou- 
rageous soldier, a brilliant and successful lawyer, a states- 
man in all the term implies, and yea, even more than 
this, he was a man. This gifted and brilliant son of 
Georgia will be missed in the Senate of the United States 
perhaps longer than any Senator who has departed that 
body in the last generation. Senator Bacon's death was a 
distinct loss to Georgia, the Congress, and the Nation. 

The Congress of the United States did what it had 
seldom done before — accorded Senator Bacon a congres- 
sional funeral held in the Senate Chamber in the Capitol 
of the United States. I was appointed as a member of the 
funeral committee which journeyed to Georgia and paid 
our last sad respect to this most distinguished Senator. 
I shall always remember that day. Georgia, with her 
warm-hearted people, did not bow their heads singly but 
collectively in tender reverence and respect to his mem- 
ory. All day the body of this giant oak lay in state at 
the Georgia capitol in Atlanta, and there in that beauti- 

[110] 



Address of Mr. Ferris, of Oklahoma 

ful southern city was every head bared in grief and 
affection for Senator Bacon. 

Even a more touching scene was presented when the 
funeral train reached his home city of Macon. There, 
from the humblest to the greatest, all in accord, bowed 
their heads in tender reverence to the life of a public 
man who had honored the name of Georgia, had honored 
the name of Macon. 

Macon is a city with broad streets beautifully arranged. 
It fairly seemed to me it was the only place that the dig- 
nified Senator could possibly have lived. 

While it is true Senator Bacon was a soldier and a 
southerner in all the term implies, still he was of re- 
markably broad vision and free from the narrowness that 
might have been expected from one who had suffered 
the hardships of strife during the earlier and impression- 
able years when the Civil War occurred. Though the 
war and the results dealt havoc, destitution, and hard- 
ship upon the South, Senator Bacon was remarkably free 
from bitterness and partisanship that emaciates and en- 
feebles any cause, any Senator, any Congressman, or any 
citizen. Senator Bacon did not live in the past but in 
the future. His face was ever turned toward the rising 
rather than toward the setting sun; he was all the South 
expected him to be in breadth of character and vision; 
he was more generous and charitable than the North 
could realize; he was a man who refused to be narrowed 
by hardships, but preferred to believe that he was the 
greatest who bore the greatest burdens, and Senator 
Bacon never shirked or failed to bear his part. He was 
a true friend of the South not alone in empty protesta- 
tions of affection but in real service actually rendered. 
He, by his sturdy character, untiring energy, and well- 
poised disposition, was able to beget respect and affection 
for the South when its load was almost heavier than it 



[111] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



could bear. No detail of Government business was too 
small to have his patriotic and dignified attention. 
While it is true he paused and gave heed to form and 
asked and sought and accomplished the correct way, still 
it was not at the expense of substance; neither did he 
ever allow it to supersede or override principle. It was 
merely a trait in the life of Senator Bacon which begot 
for him poise, good judgment, sound sense, and enabled 
him to be well and forcibly referred to as the safest 
counselor in all that great body. 

Senator Bacon's long and faithful service on the Com- 
mittee on Foreign Relations and his promotion to the 
chairmanship of that greatest of great committees has 
left its lasting imprint upon the Congress of the United 
States, and has made us all realize how closely he was 
related to the very pulsations of the heart of the Nation 
and functions with which that great committee had to 
deal. It is the committee that plays an important part 
in guiding us and keeping us in peace with all the world; 
it is the committee which to-day plays its full part in 
permitting us to be a peaceful, law-abiding, ambitious, 
progressive Republic without entanglements, embroil- 
ments, or embarrassing conditions. What Senator, what 
Congressman, would not be proud to look forward to 
the time when he could occupy this dignified and deli- 
cate role? 

Georgia has in the past and will in the future send 
many able and gifted sons to the Congress of the United 
States, but when did she heretofore and when will she 
again send us another Senator Bacon? No finer type of 
a true southern gentleman with dignity and poise will 
soon appear upon the battle field of American politics. 
No Senator from the North or the South will soon attend 
this body and lend more consecrated service to his own 
constituency or the Republic itself than did the late 

[112] 



Address of Mr. Ferris, of Oklahoma 

lamented Senator Bacon. The dread reaper has called 
him, as it will call us all, but it generously spared him 
long enough to permit him to leave in the sands of time 
footprints that will not soon be effaced or erased. I re- 
peat, he was left with us long enough to leave a lasting 
imprint of his work and his greatness upon the Congress 
indelibly inscribed upon the hearts of his colleagues, Vhe 
citizens of Georgia, and the Republic. 

As we recount the accomplishments of his busy life 
during the three-quarters of a century, and as we observe 
him standing for justice and the right to the very end, can 
anyone in thoughtfulness truly say that all is ended with 
the grave, and can anyone bring logic to bear that will 
teach us there is no future? No; I can not believe it; I 
do not believe it. To so believe belies our reason, our 
observation, and our every thought of serious things. 

Senator Bacon was a soldier; he was a statesman; he 
was a man. The legacy he left behind him was not a 
local one to the few but a common legacy to all. It will 
endure long after our poor words spoken of his memory 
here to-day are disintegrated from the pages upon which 
they are written. 



87634°— 15 8 [113] 



Address of Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Much has been said of the late Senator 
A. O. Bacon's long and distinguished services to his State 
and country. I feel that I can add but little, if anything, 
to this sad and impressive service, yet my affection for 
him and my admiration for his ability and character 
prompt me to say a few words. 

Senator Bacon was one of Georgia's greatest sons and 
one of the ablest men who ever occupied a seat in the 
United States Senate. Almost from the time he first 
entered the Senate, in 1895, to the time of his death, he 
was regarded and generally recognized as one of the 
towering intellects of that great body of distinguished 
men. 

Senator Bacon was born October 20, 1839, in Bryan 
County, Ga. He attended school in Liberty and Troup 
Counties, Ga., where much of his boyhood was spent. 
From his infancy he was an orphan. He made his own 
way in the world and won the high honors that came to 
him by his own efforts and upon his own merits. 

In his early manhood he recognized the necessity of a 
college education, so he attended the State University of 
Georgia, from which he graduated with honors in 1859. 
He graduated from the law department of this same in- 
stitution in 1860. He entered the Confederate Army at 
the beginning of the War between the States and served 
during the campaigns of 1861-62 as adjutant of the Ninth 
Georgia Regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia and 
was subsequently commissioned captain in the provi- 
sional army of the Confederacy and assigned to general 
staff duty. At the close of that unfortunate war he re- 



[114] 



Address of Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 

sumed the study of law and began practice in 1866 in 
Macon, Ga. 

In war and in peace he was ever at the service of his 
State. He was repeatedly chosen a delegate to the State 
Democratic conventions. He was a strong Democrat, and 
believed in and advocated the principles of Jeffersonian 
Democracy of the purest strain. There is nothing in his 
long public career to the contrary. 

The people of his county, who had an opportunity to 
know him best, had every confidence in him. They 
elected him to the Georgia House of Representatives, 
where he served with marked ability from 1871 to 1886. 
In the Georgia house his worth was recognized and he 
was made speaker pro tempore two terms and served 
as speaker for eight years. His record in the Georgia 
Legislature, like his record in the United States Senate, 
was one of distinct service to the public. He was a slave 
to duty and never let anything interfere with the per- 
formance of his public duties. He was a conspicuous 
figure for years in public affairs and in politics in Georgia 
before his election to the United States Senate. He was 
several times a candidate for governor of his State, and 
in 1883 in the Democratic convention he missed the nomi- 
nation for governor by only one vote. The Democratic 
nomination in Georgia for many years back meant the 
election of the nominee, which I am happy to add is still 
the case in that good old Democratic Commonwealth. 

The ambition of his life was to be a United States 
Senator. His ambition was first to be governor of 
Georgia and then represent his State in the United States 
Senate. In 1894 he was elected to the United States 
Senate and took his seat in that great body on March 4, 
1895. He was reelected in 1900. With a firm grip he 
merited and held the esteem and confidence of his fel- 
low citizens, and in 1907 he was again elected. As a still 



[115] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



further evidence of their continued and unbroken confi- 
dence in Georgia's greatest son of that time, his fellow 
Georgians not long before his death again elected him. 
By general State primary in 1913 he was nominated for 
election to the term expiring March 3, 1919. His last 
election was the first to elect a United States Senator by 
a direct vote of the people. His service was a continuous 
and unbroken one in the United States Senate from 
March 4, 1895, to the time of his death, on February 14, 
1914. It was a long, able, patriotic, and useful service. 
He had great power and influence in the Senate, of which 
body he was for a while President pro tempore. 

Senator Bacon was a great lawyer. He was a hard 
worker. He was a recognized authority upon parlia- 
mentary procedure and upon constitutional questions. 
He had long been a student and a defender of the Con- 
stitution. He was also recognized as an authority on 
questions of foreign affairs and foreign relations. 

The funeral ceremonies, held in the Chamber of the 
Senate, attended by the greatest men of this country and 
by representatives of many foreign countries, evidenced 
the esteem in which he was held at the National Capital, 
where he had labored so long, so faithfully, and so well. 
His death was a great loss to his relatives and friends and 
to his State and country. 

His successes, by his own efforts, should be an inspira- 
tion to every American boy. It shows what can be ac- 
complished by one who prepares for life and then keeps 
his life free from blemish. 

Senator Bacon was a true southern gentleman — cour- 
teous, kindly, brave, the very soul of honor. He hated 
hypocrisy. He loved frankness, candor, and sincerity. 

The words spoken here to-day are not flattery. They 
are merited by a long and honorable record which is 
without stain. For weeks he had not been well, and his 

[116] 



Address of Mr. Edwards, of Georgia 

work here was carried on in the face of difficulties which 
would have discouraged a less courageous man. But he 
did not flinch, and he never inflicted his troubles upon 
his friends. 

The passing years will show more and more clearly 
how great is the country's loss. He represented with 
absolute fidelity a noble and devoted constituency, which 
will ever hold in grateful remembrance this manly and 
useful life. 

Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail 
Or knock the breast, no weakness, no contempt, 
Dispraise or blame — nothing but well and fair; 
And what may quiet us in a death so noble. 



[117] 



Address of Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: The people of this Union know the dis- 
tinguished record of Senator Bacon, for he was a national 
figure. He was a statesman of rare ability, endowed 
with a brilliant intellect, educated, cultured, and trained 
in parliamentary usages, admirably equipped to stand 
sponsor for a great people. He stood second to no one 
in the Senate of the United States. In his death Georgia 
lost one of her noblest and most gifted sons, the Nation a 
legislator whose scrupulous honesty and unusual ability 
inspired an international confidence and respect. 

But it is not of his illustrious achievements that I wish 
to speak to-day, for his colleagues in the Senate and those 
who have preceded me here to-day have paid eloquent 
tribute to his honorable service. It is as a friend that I 
wish to offer my humble tribute of love and respect, for 
great as the loss I feel Georgia and the Nation have sus- 
tained in his death, it is chiefly as a departed friend that 
I mourn him. 

In those dark and terrible days of reconstruction, 
when every light of hope was dimmed and the whole 
Southland was shrouded in sorrow and despair, I first 
saw Mr. Bacon, a young man of commanding figure, 
faultlessly attired, with a long, wavy silken beard. He 
had come to the county seat of my native county, Twiggs, 
then a part of his congressional district, in company 
with many of the State's most beloved sons, to address 
the people of the county on the issues of the day. It was 
one of the first political meetings after the close of the 
great War between the States. Fresh from the conflict, 
where his lot had been cast with the losing side, he had 



[118] 



Address of Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 



come that day to inspire hope in a struggle that seemed 
hopeless, pointing the way in the new era that was upon 
us. In the great assemblage he faced on that occasion 
were men who a few short years before had left their 
large landed estates, where they enjoyed every comfort 
with a retinue of servants at their bidding, for the fields 
of battle, and had returned but yesterday to find their 
homes in ashes, their fields in idle waste, and a revolu- 
tionized economic system. It was a mighty task young 
Bacon faced that day, and masterly did he meet it. He 
was equal to the emergency. Unknown save as a gallant 
young soldier, his words were so logical and his prophe- 
cies so convincing that his powerful oratory laid hold 
on his hearers and they found hope in the dark and im- 
penetrable future. His speech was an inspiration to the 
young men and a comfort and consolation to those of 
declining years and lost fortunes on that eventful day in 
Georgia's history. Speaking with some of the leaders of 
that epochal period, young Bacon won the confidence 
and respect of those who heard him. Everyone present 
was impressed with the careful preparation and thorough 
knowledge which marked his speech. His words that day 
were prophetic, and he lived to see Georgia rise again to 
wealth and power and greatness in this indissoluble 
Union of States. 

When I was presented to him by my father I felt that 
I had met a man rather unbending, who stood upon a 
plane difficult to approach, but in that meeting was the 
beginning of an acquaintance which soon ripened into a 
close personal friendship that was intensified by each 
passing year and continued throughout his life. 

His general bearing at a casual meeting was aristocratic 
and aloof, but when you knew him well you found him 
genial, generous, and lovable, a man with the noblest 
impulses and with a heart as warm and true as ever beat 

[119] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

within the breast of man. He knew neither guile nor 
deceit. He was a courageous and honest man. 

I never knew a man with a finer sense of honor in his 
business affairs than characterized Senator Bacon. He 
judged men by their conduct in small transactions in 
which rested big principles. It was the intent that he 
weighed, and he always resented injustice in trivial mat- 
ters, for he considered them as indexes to the human 
character. Incidents of this kind caused him to be mis- 
understood and criticized, but if you knew the man you 
knew him to be just and broad minded. I feel that I 
should speak here of an incident with which I am per- 
sonally familiar, to show the real nobility of the man. 

A friend of his, who was one of the original projectors 
of a new railroad, employed him to defend the charter 
rights of the railway company, and upon the decision in 
the case depended the success or failure of an impor- 
tant enterprise in Georgia's development. He was paid 
a retainer of $500 by this gentleman. With his great 
legal skill he fought the case to a successful conclusion. 
Mr. Bacon presented a bill of $5,000 to the president of 
the company, who advised him that the charter was to 
be defended by the man who had employed him and not 
by the railroad company. The Senator's friend called 
at his office to pay the balance of the fee. Mr. Bacon 
asked his friend if it was true that he was individually 
responsible, and when he received an affirmative answer 
he asked for the bill he had rendered and tore it into 
shreds, remarking that the account was settled. The man 
tendered him a check to cover the balance of the fee, but 
the distinguished lawyer refused it, saying that it would 
be an injustice for his friend to pay it and that that ended 
the matter. It did. 

Senator Bacon was incapable of doing what he consid- 
ered an injustice. He was a big man, of big heart, big 

[120] 



Address of Mr. Hughes, of Georgia 



brain, and noble impulses. There was not an atom of 
littleness in him. 

While he devoted the greater part of his time to the 
practice of law Senator Bacon gave much of his work to 
the upbuilding of his State, and was ever a prominent 
figure in the political arena. He possessed untiring en- 
ergy and was a diligent student. He was one of the most 
eminent lawyers Georgia has ever given to the Nation, 
and while he was actively engaged in the practice of law 
he was employed in practically every great litigation in 
the State. 

In his political life he was frank and outspoken. It 
was his belief that a candidate should stand upon prin- 
ciples, and there was never any difficulty in finding where 
he stood on public questions. Few men were ever better 
equipped for the duties of a statesman, none more sincere 
and honest. 

It was but natural that his State should call him to 
many public offices and finally crown his political life 
with a commission to the Senate of the United States. 

It is with a feeling of deep personal loss that I say these 
last few words in memory of my friend, whose nobility 
of character will ever be an inspiration to the youth of 
the Nation, whose life is worthy of the highest emulation. 



[1211 



Address of Mr. Vollmer, of Iowa 

Mr. Speaker: I esteem it as one of the greatest honors 
that has come to me during my short service in this House 
to be invited by the Georgia delegation to voice my senti- 
ments on this solemn occasion. 

A great Senator from a great State has answered the 
last roll call. The span of my entire life would not 
measure in period of duration the length of his public 
service. I was born in Iowa two years after the close of 
the War between the States in which he fought. In my 
early childhood, that period when the mind receives its 
most lasting impressions, the reverberations of that 
mighty conflict had not yet died away, and one might 
have expected that I would have been permanently 
affected by influences hostile to the South and southern 
men. But, on the contrary, I early became a violent par- 
tisan, not of their cause but of them personally. I be- 
lieved, and I still believe, that it was best that they were 
defeated and the Union preserved; but when the great 
story of their exploits was first told to me my boyish 
heart went out to Lee and Jackson and those tattered 
gray battalions who won, not victory, but glory, tran- 
scendent and imperishable, by heroism rarely equaled 
and never excelled. I remember with pleasure how in 
that early day I idealized your State. Its very name 
came to my ear like music. I thought of it, and think so 
still, as the home of brave men and beautiful women, of 
chivalry and courage, of gracious manners, and of every 
generous instinct of the human heart; as a land favored 
by the smiles of Providence, where "the cotton whitens 
beneath the stars and by day the wheat locks the sunshine 
in its bearded sheaf." 

[122] 



Address of Mr. Vollmer, of Iowa 



Why, out of that devoted sisterhood of the lost cause, 
I should have set my heart upon your State more than 
another I can not tell, unless its strange explanation be 
found in the following curious fact. At that time in the 
Middle West the victory in which our section had had so 
large a share was still causing great swelling waves of 
triumphant emotion. By screaming fife and rattling 
drum, by brass band or soldiers' chorus, by every possible 
instrumentality, at all times and in all places, we were 
entertained with " Marching Through Georgia." Thank 
God, that in the metamorphosis caused by time this is no 
longer the barbaric paean of triumph over a noble foe! 
And I may add that now your own "Dixie" is cheered 
quite as much in the North. But even at that early age I 
glimpsed what it must have meant to you. We of the 
North want you of the South to erase from the tablets 
of memory the horrible thing out of which it grew! It 
should cause all of us Americans at this day to judge 
with less intolerance other acts of military necessity and 
not to indulge in too much canting hypocrisy about war 
and its atrocities when charged to some other people that 
may not be much worse than we are. 

Pardon these reflections, by the way, which are per- 
haps not altogether out of place here. Some one has said : 

We are as ships that pass in the night, that speak to each other 
a moment in darkness and then pass on. 

And when one of the great ones of the race passes on 
we are shocked out of our cold isolation; we instinctively 
seek for and extend the hand of sympathy and reveal 
ourselves in our innermost natures more plainly to each 
other than at any other time. 

Senator Bacon's life and works epitomize a remarkable 
chapter in history. After the Civil War, when the South, 
" like Niobe, all tears," sorrowing over her children, sat 



[123] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

among the ashes of her ruined industries and blackened 
hearthstones, when a more terrible problem than the war 
itself came with reconstruction, he did his part bravely, 
patiently, and untiringly to lift her up on her feet again 
and to save white civilization from the shadow of an 
awful impending danger. Misunderstood as it was at 
first by the people of the North, I believe that to-day that 
section is almost unanimous in the desire to let the South 
work out the race problem for herself in the light of her 
greater familiarity and better understanding and more 
vital interest. 

A great lawyer, Mr. Bacon was soon called to give his 
State the benefit of his professional training and great 
ability in the capacity of a lawmaker; and in many years 
of distinguished service in her legislature he helped her 
to pass through this the most trying period of her history. 
Providence smiled upon his labors and of those of his 
compatriots. Out of the ashes of the old, like the fabled 
bird of Greek mythology, the new South arose in all its 
present splendor and gorgeous future promise and soon 
its message came to us, borne on the voice of the im- 
mortal Grady, like accents of divine revelation. We 
heard and we believed. 

For 19 long years Georgia sent Mr. Bacon to the greatest 
representative parliament this world has ever seen, and 
for this long period and until death called him from his 
unremitting labors he here served his country with as 
great love and loyalty as his State. Oh, how more power- 
ful is love than hatred, for it has produced this miracle 
of accomplished fact, a union of hearts and common 
aspirations, of patriotism that knows no dividing line, a 
solemn compact sealed with the mingled blood of the 
sons of those who wore the gray and of those who wore 
the blue on battle fields 10,000 miles apart, from Santiago 
to Manila, and again on the burning sands of Vera Cruz. 

[124] 



Address of Mr. Vollmer, of Iowa 



And not less has it been cemented by the labors of peace 
under this splendid dome, joined in whole-heartedly by 
men from both sides of what was once known as Mason 
and Dixon's line. Here Puritan and Cavalier, native and 
foreign born, those of ancient and those of more recent 
lineage, all merge in the greatest of all human titles of 
nobility — American citizenship. " Kings and emperors " 
may well " gaze and marvel " at the wondrous spectacle 
here and now presented, of a free, self-governing people, 
saluting, living under, and willing to die for one flag — the 
most beautiful on earth — and working in harmony for a 
better, cleaner, freer humanity in the New World, while 
the civilization of the Old World seems to be sinking in a 
bottomless sea of blood. 

Senator Bacon believed in the Constitution of the 
fathers. He appreciated the wisdom of those checks and 
balances, so irksome to impatient radicals, which pre- 
vent it from being what Macaulay said it was, "All sail 
and no anchor"; which bar the way alike to the confis- 
catory zeal of State socialism and the blind fanaticism of 
those who would enthrone the mob as a more absolute 
tyrant than any autocrat in Europe. He believed in the 
division of Federal powers from the reserved rights of 
the States. He believed in the American doctrine of 
local self-government. He believed in the great mission 
of our country among the nations of the earth, and he 
would not be seduced from loyal adherence to these sub- 
lime ideals of national duty and democracy and of the 
justice of government based on the consent of the gov- 
erned. He could not be tempted to leave the solid 
ground of the principles established by the founders of 
this Government to follow that will-o'-the-wisp — con- 
quest in distant seas and world-wide dominion — which 
lures Republics into the treacherous bog of im- 
perialism. 



[125] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

I presume he had to suffer at times, as all of us do, 
from envy and malice and all uncharitableness; and that 
he shared in the common lot of those in public station to 
be misrepresented and misunderstood. 

The loftiest mountains are covered with ice and snow; 

He who surpasses or subdues mankind must look down on the 

hate of those below; 
Though high above the sun of glory glow, round him are icy 

peaks, 
And on his head blow rude contending blasts which thus reward 
The toil that to those summits led. 

And yet his was a glorious career, for so long a period 
of time, in the words of the poet — 

The applause of listening senate to command, 
The threat of pain and ruin to despise, 

To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, 

And read your history in a nation's eyes. 

Mr. Speaker, on the honor roll of those who in their 
lives and works contributed much to the production of 
our present reunited American commonwealth — perhaps 
the happiest and most fortunate result of the evolution 
of human affairs that has been brought about in all the 
tide of time — the name of Augustus Octavius Bacon, 
Senator from the State of Georgia, will shine out in char- 
acters of living light for the reverent regard of genera- 
tions yet unborn. 



[126] 



Address of Mr. Howard, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon was 
my close kinsman, our mothers were sisters, and I loved 
him with tenderest affection. 

In my boyhood, my young manhood, and in my ma- 
turer years he was my counselor, my true friend, my 
godfather. So long as life in me exists I shall revere his 
memory and strive to emulate his life in all things. 

The imperial State of Georgia delighted in showering 
her rarest honors upon him; and when God called him, 
and all Georgia bowed her head in unutterable grief, the 
tender and consoling words of Myrta Lockett Avary, a 
Georgia woman, expressed Georgia's love and admira- 
tion for him who had served her with such distinction 
and so faithfully in the highest councils of the Nation : 

Do not bow thy head, Georgia, 

Shed thou ne'er a tear; 
Walk thou smiling, proud, majestic, 

From thy great son's bier. 
Wear no sable garments for him, 

Don thy vestments white, 
Bind the oak about thy forehead, 

Stand forth in the light, 
Gracious, glorious, glad, victorious, 

By maternal right! 

E'er a son's completed record 

In its high renown, 
Is unto the State, the Nation, 

To the race, a crown. 
And for motherhood triumphant, 

Is no cypress wreath, 
But the palm that honor giveth 

In the court of death! 



[127] 



Address of Mr. Crisp, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: When, on February 14, 1914, the Great 
Reaper of the Universe called to its final reward the soul 
of Augustus Octavius Bacon, the State of Georgia and 
the United States lost a statesman, the peer of any man 
of his day and generation. 

The true treasures of a nation are its good men, and 
neither death nor time can steal them. The man indeed 
dies, but the memory of his character and life survives 
and is a perpetual inspiration to the youth of the land 
to emulate his example. 

Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 

And departing leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time. 

Mr. Speaker, as long as time remains the memory of 
Senator Bacon will not die, for he has played too promi- 
nent a part in the affairs of state to ever be forgotten. 
Senator Bacon, the posthumous son of the Rev. Augustus 
0. Bacon and Mary Louise Bacon, was born in Bryan 
County, Ga., on October 20, 1839. He graduated at the 
University of Georgia in the literary and classical de- 
\ partments in 1859, and in the law department in 1860; 
he entered the Confederate Army at the beginning of 
the War between the States and served during the cam- 
paigns of 1861 and 1862 as adjutant of the Ninth Georgia 
Regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. At the 
close of the war Senator Bacon began the practice of law 
in Macon, Ga., and rapidly rose in his profession, and 
when elected to the United States Senate in 1891 stood 
easily at the head of the bar in his State. Senator Bacon 

[128] 



Address of Mr. Crisp, of Georgia 






always took an active interest in public affairs and sought 
to serve his fellow man. The Civil War, a war that pro- 
duced on both sides patriotic and heroic soldiers whose 
valor and heroism have never been equaled in all the 
annals of time, which war had completely devastated the 
resources of the South, had only been ended a few years. 
The years immediately following the close of the war 
were more trying, terrible, and heart-rending to the 
people of the South than even the days of the awful con- 
flict, for the governmental affairs of the various States of 
the South were now in control of renegade carpetbaggers 
and ignorant negroes, who were vicious and incapable 
of self-government. This was a time of all times when 
the Southland needed the services of her ablest men. 
Senator Bacon offered to the people of Georgia his great 
talents and served them in the lower branch of the legis- 
lature for 14 years, serving them with great ability and 
fidelity and indelibly stamping his personality on many 
statutes of the Commonwealth. He served so faithfully 
and efficiently that his colleagues in the legislature 
elected him their presiding officer, and for eight years 
he was the speaker of the Georgia Assembly, and the 
State never had an abler speaker. 

Senator Bacon held many positions of honor and trust 
in his native State, and distinguished himself in every 
instance. For many years he was one of the trustees of 
the University of Georgia, his alma mater, and always 
took a great interest in its affairs and had its welfare ever 
at heart. 

Senator Bacon was a man of great reserve and dignity 
and was frequently misunderstood, but he possessed a 
warm heart and was a true, loyal, and unselfish friend. 

Mr. Speaker, I desire to here refer to an incident con- 
nected with Senator Bacon, probably known to very few, 
which illustrates the bigness and loyalty of my deceased 



87634°— 15 9 [129] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

friend. In 1893 Senator Colquitt, whose time in the 
Senate would have expired in March, 1894, died. He 
was not a candidate to succeed himself, and Augustus 
Octavius Bacon was an active candidate for this sena- 
torial toga. Upon the death of Senator Colquitt Gov. 
Northern tendered my revered father, Charles F. Crisp, 
then Speaker of this august body, the appointment as 
United States Senator to fill this vacancy. Mr. Bacon 
immediately wired his friend, Mr. Crisp, that if he ac- 
cepted the appointment he, Mr. Bacon, would withdraw 
from the senatorial race and give Mr. Crisp his active 
support for the full senatorial term. Mr. Crisp declined 
the appointment, and Gov. Northern appointed Hon. 
Patrick Walsh, of Augusta, Senator. Mr. Bacon con- 
tinued his candidacy for the Senate, and when the legis- 
lature convened in 1894 he was elected, and thrice there- 
after the people of Georgia reelected him to represent 
them in the highest legislative body in our country. 

Senator Bacon was peculiarly well qualified to repre- 
sent his State in the Senate. He was a man of great 
intellect and a complete master of parliamentary law, 
a trained legislator, a profound lawyer, and an able 
and skillful debater. Thus equipped, very soon after 
he took the oath of office his colleagues in the Senate 
realized he was destined to be a leader among them, 
and he soon took high rank in the Senate. He served 
on many of the most important committees of that 
body, and when we, the Democrats, regained the Senate 
Senator Bacon was made chairman of the important 
Committee on Foreign Relations. His knowledge of 
international laws was so profound and his judgment 
on delicate questions of state was so wise and safe to 
follow that the administration frequently sought his 
counsel and advice; but just when his country needed 



[130] 



Address of Mr. Crisp, of Georgia 



him most, in the very zenith of his intellectual power and 
usefulness, he quietly and peacefully passed away. 

And could we choose the time, 

And choose aright, 
'Tis best to die 

Our honors at the height. 

Georgians were proud of Senator Bacon, loved to 
honor him when in life, and now revere his sacred mem- 
ory. Mr. Speaker, Georgia and our country have lost a 
noble son, and I have lost a personal friend. I shall 
ever cherish with recollections of gratitude the many 
acts of kindness extended me by our distinguished dead. 
When I entered upon the duties as Representative from 
the third district of Georgia, the wise counsel and sym- 
pathetic help of Senator Bacon was ever at my command. 

Mr. Speaker, if friends on the other shore are cognizant 
of events transpiring here below, I am quite sure the 
heart of our deceased friend was made glad when last 
year the legislature of the State he loved so well did him 
the honor of naming one of its counties Bacon, for him; 
thus will the name of Bacon be forever perpetuated in 
the Empire State of the South. 

Pursuant to popular demand, the Constitution of the 
United States was amended by providing that United 
States Senators should be elected directly by the people 
of the States, in lieu of being elected by the legislature. 
Senator Bacon had the distinction of being the first 
United States Senator to be elected by the direct vote of 
the people. 

Mr. Speaker, the services rendered our country by the 
distinguished deceased statesman was so great that it 
would be out of place for me to take sufficient time on 
this sacred occasion to enumerate them nil. Suffice it 
to say that, while the Senate of the United States had had 



[131] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



among its Members many able, patriotic, and truly great 
men, the late Senator Bacon was the peer of any of them. 

Statesman, yet friend to truth, of soul sincere, 
In action faithful and in honor clear; 
Who broke no promise, served no private end, 
Who gained no title, and who lost no friend; 
Ennobled by himself, and by all approved. 



[132] 



Address of Mr. Park, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: It may be truly said that Senator Bacon 
was not only one of the greatest men that any sovereign 
Commonwealth has sent to the United States Senate, but 
he was one of the most punctilious in all things. No 
detail was ever too small to escape him. Such was his 
conception of the rights of the American people in their 
legislative representation at Washington. No influence, 
be it ever so great, could swerve him from the straight 
course of duty and right. In all the years of his splendid 
career at Washington he felt it his duty to be present at 
every session of the body to which the people of the great 
State of Georgia sent him, and his only absences during 
that long span of service were solely for providential 
reasons and not for personal convenience. 

At the convening of Congress he was frequently one of 
those assigned the duty to notify the President. When 
Congress adjourned it was often his duty to notify the 
Chief Executive of the Nation that the greatest parlia- 
mentary institution on earth had ended its labors for the 
session. 

He jealously guarded the Senate's rights and preroga- 
tives as no other man did in many long years. He was 
an undisputed authority on the precedents of the Senate. 
As one of the senior Members of that body, he com- 
manded the respect and confidence and love and admira- 
tion of every colleague, however much they might differ 
with him politically. No man ever so stoutly and sin- 
cerely contended for the upholding of that dignity of the 
Senate as an institution that should ever be held firmly 
in the minds of all thinking people. He contended, in 



[133] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

brief, that the creature can not be greater than the 
creator, and that therefore the Senate as the upper 
branch of Congress can not be inferior in rank to offices 
which are the mere creatures of Congress. 

He held the fundamental and controlling fact to be 
that the Federal Constitution creates no offices except 
those of the Presidency, the Vice Presidency, the Supreme 
Court, and the Congress, composed of both Houses. All 
other offices of the United States have been created by 
act of Congress; and he held that, if it be deemed neces- 
sary, Congress may at any time abolish any of these 
offices except those above named, which were created 
by the Constitution, and create others in their stead. 
This has happened in recent years. Congress has created 
many; abolished many. 

With the President and Vice President, in their order, 
standing first, unquestionably, the Senate, as he viewed it, 
courteously yielded the right of precedence to the Su- 
preme Court, but uniformly, as the head of the legislative 
branch of the Government, declined to concede more 
than this recognition of the heads of the executive and 
judicial departments. " Insistence by Senators of their 
superior rank," he once said, " is not made in deprecia- 
tion of other officials. No officer of the United States, 
saving only the President and Vice President, is depre- 
ciated in being placed second in rank to Senators." 

The great State of Georgia lost one of its greatest of a 
long list of great men in the passing of Senator Bacon. 
In that galaxy of great public men who have lit with 
splendor the proud escutcheon of Georgia and contrib- 
uted to the prowess of this great Nation among the 
peoples of the earth no name shines with greater luster 
than that of Augustus Octavius Bacon. No record of 
legislative achievement within the past two decades is 



[134] 



Address of Mr. Park, of Georgia 



complete without bearing upon its face the hall mark 
of his great mind, and no movement of any national 
consequence has been undertaken by the great body in 
which he served so long that failed to reckon with his 
clear and convincing views. 

A southerner, he knew no sectionalism that could over- 
shadow his duty to the country in enacting its laws, 
though he loved his State and section with the deepest 
of loyal sentiment. 

A Senator, he jealously guarded the constitutional 
rights of the Government and the people, not for the 
passing show, but for the great and everlasting glory of 
the greatest people in the world. His every act was in 
the direction of safeguarding the rights of the people. 

His command of legislation was surpassed by none. 
Every vital national problem that was to be an issue since 
he first took public office was mastered by him in readi- 
ness for its consideration in the Halls of Congress. He 
was conspicuous in the consideration of the tariff, cur- 
rency, and other momentous policies. He was active in 
the framing and discussion of the Panama Canal, rail- 
road, and other great legislation. He was in the fore of 
every constitutional debate. He was active in the con- 
sideration of popular elections of Senators and along 
many other lines of legislation that have attracted popu- 
lar attention. 

In the foreign relations of the United States he was a 
potential figure. A member of the great Committee on 
Foreign Relations, and for some time its chairman, and 
thereby the directing head of the consideration of for- 
eign policies in our legislative halls, he stood forth a great 
national figure in the shaping of action upon those issues 
on which vitally hinge the international comity of the 
governments of the world. 



[135] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Replying to a request by me for a word on the char- 
acter and career of Senator Bacon, President Wilson 
said: 

It should be a rich theme, for Senator Bacon's service in the 
Senate was long and distinguished. After I myself — 

He says: 

came into office, I learned to entertain for him a very great 
respect as a thoughtful and conscientious public servant. My 
dealings with him were chiefly in the field of foreign affairs, 
where I found him singularly well informed and always inclined 
to promote the highest principles of action. 

These generous words will ever be dear to Georgians, 
who loved the dead Senator and who love and admire 
the great President. 

In the Philippine and Cuban developments his mature 
counsel was voiced in the Senate Chamber. 

His was a shining instance of the greatness of the land 
in which we live, for no man sent to the Nation's Con- 
gress by a great people ever transmitted to history a 
record of greater achievement in the cause of the whole 
people. 

He was a broadly finished scholar, closely familiar 
with the history of political questions which have dis- 
turbed this and other countries, even those which shook 
and sundered ancient kingdoms and principalities, and 
he put to use that knowledge in efforts to guide the 
American ship of state. 

Were it not for minds like his, the dust of antique time would 
lie unswept and mountainous error grow too highly heaped for 
truth to overpeer. 

His steady ascent from obscurity to great prominence 
was not attained by sudden flight, but resulted from 
well-directed, intelligent effort. His public acts and life 



[136] 



Address of Mr. Park, of Georgia 






ever satisfied as proud a constituency as lives to-day 
under the flag. 

His death, following so brief an illness, shocked his 
associates at the Capitol and spread gloom and sorrow 
amidst the people of Georgia as they sadly realized that 
a great Georgian and a trusted Democratic counselor of 
the National Government had passed on his way. 

The public men of the Nation met in the Senate Cham- 
ber to do his memory honor — the Supreme Court, both 
Houses of Congress, the Cabinet, foreign embassies and 
legations, and many distinguished visitors. An escort of 
Senators and Representatives accompanied the casket 
containing his body to Atlanta, where thousands and tens 
of thousands awaited, standing with bared heads as the 
procession passed on its way to the State capitol where 
his body lay in state. As the casket was borne through 
the Terminal Station in Atlanta on its way to the grave 
in Macon it passed between two lines of Confederate 
veterans, who bowed a silent farewell to their comrade 
in arms, while the torn battle flag of his regiment hung 
with caressing sweep over the passing casket, and then 
and there amidst vivid and crowding memories of the 
past he received the holiest baptism that can come to 
the living or dead — tears from the eyes of old comrades 
in arms after a half century of separation from inti- 
mate association. 

He was a Senator whose course and conduct satisfied 
his people; like the mountain streams and breezes of 
his State, her humming industries, and all her great 
things past and present, he fitted into the harmony of 
things and blended with all — a part of all. 

He loved with deep devotion his beautiful mother 
State; her brow bound with the priceless Appalachian 
chain, her left cheek laved with old Atlantic's tireless 
hand, making of her dimples the safe and ample harbors 



[137] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

for the fleets of the world, her right cheek moistened by 
Chattahoochie's limpid stream beaded with commerce- 
bearing vessels, her throat adorned with the supernal 
beauty of Florida's varied hues, through which course 
the arteries bearing the life blood of internal trade, and 
with his loving devotion to his mother State he gave to 
her service the best years of his great life. 

His calmness and self-possession gave the impression 
to the beholder of coldness and lack of feeling and sym- 
pathy; yet beneath the calm was a nature as simple and 
direct as that of childhood, and within his breast there 
pulsated as warm a heart as that of any who has wiped 
away the orphan's tears or relieved distress of suffering 
humanity. 

His nature was proud, and beneath the pride one could 
not always see and feel the beat of his tender, honest 
heart. 

His charity was white handed and voiceless. 

Georgia has produced her meed of men of greatness, 
and in the foreground, among the greatest of them all, 
on its roll, and on the scroll of national fame, there 
stands the memory of the magnificent life of the famous 
publicist whose services to his country we commemorate 
to-day. 



[138] 



Address of Mr. Vinson, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: We are told on high authority that 
" there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to 
mourn, and a time to dance; " and in the official life of 
the Members of Congress to-day is a day of mourning. 
We have ceased to think the thoughts of our parties; 
we have banished the dreams of ambition; we have put 
away the trappings of place and pride, left our mirth and 
our employments, to spend a brief while in solemn re- 
flection upon the life and virtues of that distinguished 
Member of the United States Senate who has been trans- 
lated to the realms of eternal bliss. 

One of the most thrilling events of human life comes 
when the great spoiler, like a gigantic bird of prey, 
swoops down and fixes his talons into the side of a man 
and tears his child or his life companion away. When 
a man looks into the pale, dead face of the wife of his 
bosom he feels that his very life is invaded. As truly as 
this is applicable to a man, so truly is it applicable to the 
Empire State of the South. For the pale messenger that 
never tires and never pities; the messenger that called 
Sappho from her odes and Letitia Landon away from 
her sorrow; the messenger that called Byron to where he 
could sleep, and piloted Poe to the " misty dim regions 
of Weir," did on the 14th day of February, 1914, knock 
upon the door and reach upon the inexorable roll call 
the name of Augustus Octavius Bacon, and guide him 
into that radiant hereafter, of which hope is the creator 
and faith the defender. A soul which needed no cleans- 
ing to fit it for the companionship of the just. 

It is true, Mr. Speaker, that many great and distin- 
guished Members of the United States Senate have 



[139] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

"passed over the river" and gone to that great beyond, 
but I measure my words when I say that among that great 
number there have been few, yea, very few, who gave 
more complete and unfaltering devotion to his State and 
the Nation he loved than did that illustrious lawmaker. 

When the news was flashed over the wires announc- 
ing the death of Senator Bacon, the people of a great and 
prosperous State mourned; imperial Georgia wept, for 
a true son had passed to the beyond. 

His learning as a lawyer, his success at the bar of his 
native State, his ability, skill, and force as a debater in 
the Senate, his unusual talent, tact, and genius as a par- 
liamentarian, his unsullied honor, his innate dignity and 
courtesy, his high regard for the proprieties, traditions, 
rights, and prerogatives of the Senate, his unwavering 
loyalty to the South and her people, his unfaltering advo- 
cacy of State rights, and his American patriotism are 
well known to the people of the United States. 

Mr. Speaker, he entered the Senate on March 4, 1895, 
and served 19 years. At the time of his death he had not 
served one year of his fourth term. The Senate was in 
session at the very hour of his demise, and instantly 
adjourned out of respect and in deep sorrow. Imposing 
funeral services were held in the Senate Chamber, and 
the body was then taken back to Georgia to be interred 
beneath the old red hills, among a people he loved and 
who loved him. 

During a service of 19 years Senator Bacon was never 
absent a day from the session on account of pleasure or 
his personal affairs. Possibly no other Senator has been 
able to claim such a record for punctuality. He was the 
first Senator ever elected from Georgia for the third con- 
secutive term, and was the only one elected from the 
State for four terms. He was the first Senator elected 
in the United States by the popular vote of the people 



[140] 



Address of Mr. Vinson, of Georgia 



under the recently adopted amendment to the Federal 
Constitution. 

In the Sixty-second Congress he was elected President 
pro tempore of the Senate, and served parts of the years 
1912 and 1913. On account of his impartiality and great 
learning as a lawyer he was chosen to preside over the 
Archbald Court of Impeachment. The Senate was 
Republican, the defendant was a Republican, yet so great 
was the confidence of his colleagues, regardless of party 
lines, as to his ability, his uprightness, and his fairness 
he was selected to preside, and every ruling of his was 
sustained, notwithstanding that the trial lasted for many 
weeks. 

When the Republican Party went out of power in the 
Senate on March 3, 1913, Senator Bacon became chair- 
man of the Committee on Foreign Relations. He had 
for years during the Republican administration been 
the ranking Democratic member of Foreign Relations, 
Judiciary, and Rules Committees. When the Democrats 
came into control, he could have had the chairmanship 
of either of these committees he desired. He selected 
Foreign Relations, for which he was admirably equipped. 
He was a member of the Judiciary Committee 17 years, 
Foreign Relations 15 years, Rules Committee 13 years. 

He discussed with remarkable ability every question of 
importance that came before the Senate during his 19 
years of service and illumined every subject he debated. 

The debate in 1906 between Senator Bacon and Senator 
Spooner on the merits of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty for 
intellectual vigor, grasp of the subject, compactness and 
lucidity in statement ranks as one of the greatest debates 
ever delivered in the Senate. 

Mr. Speaker, all nature speaks the voice of dissolution; 
the highway of history and life is strewn with the wreck 
which Time, the great despoiler, has made. 



[141] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

The dweller of the infant world saw that all the world 
was his foe; earth, air, and water swarmed with his 
enemies; the forces of nature, the elements, the beasts 
of the field, all combined to accomplish his destruction. 
He saw his wife, his children, and his tribal brothers lay 
disease stricken and die in his presence, while he was 
helpless to comfort or relieve. No downy couch or 
smoothed pillow gave comfort to his pain-racked body. 
No surgeon's skill repaired the manglings of the battle 
or the chase, and no sedative remedies tempered his 
death pangs. 

The life of the dweller of the infant world was one 
long contest with nature's unchained and untamed forces. 
" For him death rode on every passing breeze and lurked 
in every flower." He saw that "As for man his days are 
as grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth, and 
the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place 
thereof shall know it no more." Could this be all of life? 
His primitive nature hungered for something more and 
abhorred the idea that death was annihilation. 

So ancient man, as he lay on his bed of boughs in the 
gnarled branches of some giant oak or sat at the entrance 
of his cavern home, occupied himself with serious and 
solemn thoughts of the future and witnessed the phe- 
nomena of the natural universe. He saw the sun rise 
and scatter the mists of the morning and drive across 
the celestial dome to go down a ball of fire in a lake of 
burnished gold, and in the silent vigils of the night he 
saw the myriads of twinkling-eyed children of the sun 
and the queenly moon in their march athwart the firma- 
ment, and all these infinite ends of heaven be peopled 
with the creatures of his fancy and filled all things and 
all space, even to the very frontiers of his imagination, 
with an all-wise and a powerful God. 



[142] 



Address of Mr. Vinson, of Georgia 



He saw the seasons succeed themselves and the har- 
vest succeed the seedtime. He saw approaching winter 
lay icy fingers on all the beauties of field and forest and 
all nature struggling in the pangs of death until winter 
sepulchred her in a crown of snow and all the world 
was dead. But again he saw the smiling beams of a 
vernal sun conjure a new and glorious life into old earth, 
and where one flower bowed its head to winter's blast a 
multitude of bright-eyed beauties lifted their heads to 
kiss the coming beams, and hopeful, happy man read the 
glorious promise of a resurrection and of life immortal. 

Mr. Speaker, we are but those of whom others shall 
say to-morrow, " They are the dead." From the begin- 
ning of time, through all the ages, every man has pro- 
pounded to his innermost soul this question, " If a man 
die, shall he live again? " How simple is the mystery! 

He can not die who truly lives, 

For virtue has immortal breath; 
'Tis but the sowing of the grain 
Which blossoms into life again 

And finds perfectness in its death. 

If the seed be perfect, the harvest is sure; 
If the fountain be sweet, the waters are pure; 
If the present is right, the answer is plain; 
If a man dieth, he liveth again. 



[143] 



' Address of Mr. Bell, of Georgia 

Mr. Speaker: Senator A. O. Bacon was born October 20, 
1839, and was therefore nearly 75 years of age. He bad 
served continuously in the United States Senate almost 
20 years, during which time he made a national reputa- 
tion. He was regarded by thousands of people as being 
the strongest representative Georgia has sent to the Sen- 
ate, and I share with them in this opinion. I had the 
pleasure of knowing Senator Bacon for almost 35 years, 
and in all my relations with him I always found him 
sincere and firm in his convictions. He made but few 
promises, but he kept them. He was absolutely reliable 
in word and deed. He would not compromise himself 
nor would he embarrass anyone, friend or foe, even 
though he might gain temporary advantage by it. He 
was a student, a lawyer, a statesman, a gentleman. Few 
men of his day were better posted on the great questions 
which confronted this Nation than he. His powerful 
mind was active at all times, and he was able and always 
ready to defend his State, his people, and the Nation. 
He had a clear conception of legislation which affected 
his own country at home and abroad. He had in fact 
elements of greatness and would have made an ideal 
Chief Executive of this great Nation. He studied care- 
fully the minor questions which often present themselves 
to a legislator, and was equal to any emergency which 
required brain, thought, statesmanship, and active en- 
deavor. He never shirked responsibility, nor did he un- 
load his burdens or cares on his neighbors or friends. 
He was possessed of a resolute will, a determined pur- 



[144] 



Address of Mr. Bell, of Georgia 



pose, lofty ideals, a cherished ambition, and back of it 
all a giant mind. He did great good during his long 
service to his country, and his name will go down in 
history as one of the great men of to-day. 

I attended his funeral at Macon, Ga., and the throng 
of people of all classes who paid tribute to him on the 
occasion bore eloquent testimony of the high esteem in 
which he was held by those who knew him best and 
loved him most. His counsel was good and his judgment 
was safe. As chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate he was consulted by the President 
and those who served with him on this important com- 
mittee, because they knew his ability and his strength as 
a debater could be depended upon when the services of 
a great man were needed. He was a stanch believer in 
the principles of the Monroe doctrine, and his defense 
of it was masterful, and he could be relied upon to pre- 
sent his views upon any question which affected our 
country in this doctrine, which he firmly believed was 
correct and imperative to the welfare of our country. 
We mourn his loss. The country mourns his loss. He 
has gone from our presence, but his goodness and great- 
ness still linger with us. We will see his face and form 
no more on earth, but the light of his life and his in- 
fluence will remain with us. The world is better because 
of his life, and like a rare perfume whose fragrance 
lingers, so his memory will be cherished by all. His 
work on earth is done, and he is at rest. Peace to his 
memory. 

There is no death! The stars go down 

To rise upon some fairer shore, 
And bright in heaven's jeweled crown 

They shine forevermore. 



87634°— 15 10 [145] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



There is no death! The leaves may fall, 
And flowers may fade and pass away. 

They only wait through wintry hours 
The coming of the May. 

There is no death! An angel form 

Walks o'er the earth with silent tread; 

He bears our best-beloved things away, 
And then — we call them dead. 



[146] 



DEATH OF SENATOR BACON 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 15, 1914] 

By Ralph Smith 

Washington, D. C, February Ik. — Augustus Octavius Bacon, 
of Macon, senior United States Senator from Georgia, and the 
oldest Democratic Member of the Senate in point of age and con- 
tinuous service, died at the Garfield Memorial Hospital in this 
city this afternoon at 2 o'clock, following a collapse caused by 
the transmission of a blood clot from his affected kidneys to 
the heart. 

Senator Bacon had been ill and confined to his bed since 
January 30, when he left the Senate with a raging fever. His 
illness had been diagnosed by physicians as pyelitis, an inflam- 
mation of the kidneys, causing the formation of pus. Until an 
hour before his death it was believed that he was on the road 
to recovery, and his faithful secretary, Col. John T. Boifeuillet, 
had issued an encouraging statement. 

Surviving Senator Bacon are his wife, Mrs. A. O. Bacon, of 
Macon, and his daughter, Mrs. Willis B. Sparks, of Macon. The 
latter was with the distinguished patient during his illness and 
at his bedside when death overtook him. Other relatives are 
grandchildren as follows: Mrs. Walter Cheatham, of Macon, for- 
merly Miss Sherley Curry; Miss Louise Curry, a student at 
Hollins College, Virginia; Augustus 0. Bacon Sparks and Willis 
B. Sparks, students at the University of Georgia; and Miss Lamar 
Sparks, of Macon. 

Hardly had the shock with which they heard of Senator 
Bacon's death subsided, when Vice President Marshall and 
leaders on both sides of the Senate Chamber decided that the 
Senate itself should take charge of the funeral in recognition 
of the Senator's high standing as a Member and his long and 
devoted public service. 

The Senate was in executive session when the news of Senator 
Bacon's death came. It was communicated first from Col. 
Boifeuillet at the hospital to Sergeant at Arms Higgins, who in 



[147] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



turn notified Senator Overman, of North Carolina, in the absence 
from the city of Senator Hoke Smith. 

Mr. Overman interrupted the debate that was then proceeding 
and made the sorrowful announcement in a voice that betrayed 
his deep emotion. 

Adjournment was taken immediately, and, shortly thereafter, 
when the news reached the House at the other end of the Capitol 
it too adjourned. 

The sorrow, so manifest everywhere, in the Senate was not of 
the perfunctory sort. Senators gathered in small groups of three 
and four to discuss the sudden taking off of the ranking Democrat 
and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, upon 
whose shoulders rested tremendous responsibilities relating to the 
foreign affairs of the United States and the delicate diplomatic 
situation involving our relations with Mexico. 

Following immediately upon adjournment, the desk and chair 
which Senator Bacon had occupied so long and with such con- 
spicuous ability were draped in mourning by Senate attendants. 
B. M. Edwards, an old Democratic war horse from Missouri, who 
has tended the Democratic door of the Chamber since the war, 
was one of the men selected for this work, and as the old man 
worked he wept silently. The death of Senator Bacon had un- 
nerved him completely, and his sorrow was typical of that felt 
not only by Mr. Bacon's colleagues but by the old employees at 
the Capitol. 

As the flags on the Capitol were lowered to half-mast, following 
at once upon the announcement of Senator Bacon's death, Vice 
President Marshall, Senator Overman of North Carolina, Senator 
Swanson of Virginia, and Senator Saulsbury of Delaware emerged 
from the Capitol. 

Their sober expressions manifested the deep sorrow they felt. 
They drove directly to Garfield Hospital to proffer their aid to 
the Senator's daughter and Col. Boifeuillet and to express to 
them their profound sympathy. Shortly thereafter Congressman 
Schley Howard, the Senator's cousin, and Congressmen Bartlett, 
Adamson, Hardwick, Park, and Hughes reached the sanitarium 
on a similar mission. 

James D. Baker, Secretary of the Senate; Sergeant at Arms 
Higgins; and many Senators called during the afternoon. 

The death of Senator Bacon was as peaceful as it was unex- 
pected. This morning at 8.30 o'clock when Col. Boifeuillet 

[148] 



Death of Senator Bacon 



called at the hospital he found the Senator bright and cheerful. 
His temperature was normal and he took courage from the state- 
ment that the patient had enjoyed a restful night. Mr. Boi- 
feuillet remained with the Senator for two hours, and when he 
reached the Capitol gave out the encouraging news of the Sena- 
tor's improvement. 

At noon Dr. James Dudley Morgan, who has attended Senator 
Bacon throughout his illness, and Drs. B. L. Hardin and Francis 
L. Hagner, who were called into conference last week, were at 
the hospital. They had visited the Senator during Col. Boi- 
feuillet's presence, and had left the sick room to consult about 
the case. They shared in the encouragement entertained by 
others, and felt assured that the Senator would enjoy the respite 
from their attentions and the company of his daughter, whom 
they left with him. 

At 12.45 the Senator attempted to sit up in bed. He collapsed 
and fell back in a semifaint. The physicians, who were on a 
lower floor in consultation over some X-ray photographs made 
yesterday, were summoned hastily. They appreciated the gravity 
of his condition at once, and Col. Boifeuillet was called from 
the Capitol. 

In the meantime, the physicians administered restoratives and 
exerted heroic efforts to check the fainting spell. They realized, 
however, the futility of their efforts when they understood that 
a blood clot had been transmitted from the infected kidneys to 
the heart. 

Senator Bacon never lost consciousness, and until the very last 
was aware of his desperate condition and appreciative of the 
efforts of his physicians to save him. He submitted to their 
treatment, and in his feeble state fought with all of his strength 
to stave off the inevitable. 

Col. Boifeuillet reached the sick room at 1.30 o'clock, and 
was recognized by the Senator as the physicians worked over 
him. Senator Bacon did not speak for half an hour before the 
end, and when death overtook him it was as if he had fallen into 
a peaceful slumber. 

Senator Bacon returned to Washington from Georgia after the 
Christmas holidays a sick man, but his loyalty to duty and his 
determination were such that he refused to give up until he was 
literally burning up with fever. He fell in a bathtub in the home 
of Mayor H. A. Tarver, of Albany, while visiting that city during 



[149] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

the vacation. A rib was fractured by the fall, but the Senator did 
not realize that he was injured so seriously. He continued to fish 
and to hunt and for the time being suffered little pain from 
the hurt. 

Upon his return to Washington he plunged at once into work, 
and it was several days before he submitted to a physical exami- 
nation to ascertain the extent of the injury occasioned by the 
accident in the bathtub. 

Dr. Morgan, whom he consulted, found that a left rib had been 
fractured, but the Senator remained at work. 

The Foreign Relations Committee was then in the midst of 
its consideration of the arbitration treaties in which the 
President feels such a deep interest. As chairman of the com- 
mittee having these conventions in charge, Senator Bacon pre- 
sided at daily sessions. All the while the fractured rib troubled 
him some, but he complained little and kept up the work. 

It was on Friday, January 30, that he finally yielded to the 
advice of his physician and quit work. The committee had been 
in almost continuous session for three days preceding and on 
Friday morning Senator Bacon sat at the head of the committee 
table and gave the committee the benefit of his counsel. In the 
meantime a fever had gripped the Senator, and this had burned 
incessantly for the three days. 

"John," said the Senator to his secretary, Col. Boifeuillet, "I 
have such a hot fever that I am going home." 

He left his office with this parting remark and never returned. 
The fever refused to yield to the treatment of Dr. Morgan, and 
in the middle of the next week Dr. Hardin was called into con- 
sultation. It was feared for a time that perhaps the fever was 
occasioned by the fractured rib, but X-ray photographs failed to 
establish this. 

The Senator remained in his apartments in the Netherlands 
until last Sunday, when it was deemed advisable to remove him 
to Garfield Memorial Hospital. 

In the meantime, at the Senator's request, his daughter, Mrs. 
Sparks, had been summoned from Macon, and she was with him 
constantly to the end. 

It was some days after he had been taken to the hospital before 
the physicians finally agreed on a diagnosis, and this diagnosis 
attributed the fever to pyelitis. This disease, it is stated, is an 



[150] 



Death of Senator Bacon 



affection of the kidneys which may be caused by the use of con- 
taminated drinking water. 

In the death of Senator Bacon the Democratic Party has lost 
its oldest and one of its wisest counselors and Georgia has lost 
an illustrious son whose public life in the National Capital has 
reflected luster and glory upon the Commonwealth. 

Senator Bacon was a statesman of the old school. He ranked 
with the first men of the Senate of this or any other day. As a 
lawyer, as a diplomatist, and as a parliamentarian he had not a 
superior in the Senate. He was a tower of strength to the 
Democratic Party. 

In debates on the floor of the Senate and in committee room 
he was just as useful in the framing of legislation. His knowl- 
edge of parliamentary law and the practices and precedents of 
the Senate made him invaluable, and his views carried weight in 
nonpartisan questions involving procedure in the Chamber. His 
long experience and close study of the foreign policy of the 
United States and of foreign governments entitled him to the 
recognition he received as the best posted man in Congress on 
such questions. 

His extensive travels abroad enlarged his knowledge of these 
questions. 

Elected first to the Senate in 1894 by the Georgia Legislature, 
he took his seat on March 4, 1895, and served continuously until 
his death to-day. 

During that time— 19 years— Senator Bacon missed very, very 
few sessions of the Senate. He was punctual almost to a fault, 
both in attendance upon the sessions of the Senate and at meet- 
ings of committees upon which he was a member. 

Not only was he the oldest Democrat in the Senate in point of 
age and service, but Senator Bacon enjoyed also the unique dis- 
tinction of having been the first Member of the United States 
Senate to be elected by the direct vote of the people under the 
seventeenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. He was 
elected without opposition at a special election held in Georgia 
last year following his renomination in the Democratic primary. 

The Senator enjoyed also the distinction and honor of being 
the first and only Democrat who ever presided over a Republican 

Senate. 

He served as its duly elected and recognized President pro 
tempore. This occurred during the Sixty-second Congress 

[151] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



through the inability of the Republicans then in control to agree 
upon one of their number to succeed the late Senator Frye, of 
Maine, upon his death. 

As President pro tempore it fell to Senator Bacon's lot to pre- 
side over the impeachment trial of Federal Judge Archbold, and 
his rulings in this celebrated case will stand not only as prece- 
dents for future trials but as a monument to his judicial tem- 
perament and thorough impartiality. 

Senator Bacon's death at this time may prove embarrassing to 
the administration. During the pendency of the Mexican situa- 
tion Senator Bacon has shared with Secretary of State Bryan 
the entire confidence of President Wilson. He had supported 
him in the Senate on all occasions and his conservative yet 
convincing attitude in debate has been of inestimable value to 
the President in handling the delicate questions involved. 

The recognition accorded Senator Bacon as the spokesman of 
the President in matters of foreign relations and the weight and 
influence that his utterances have had with the Senate is a fair 
test of the measure of regard in which he was held by his col- 
leagues. It was agreed by all to-night, Republican as well as 
Democrat, that the Senate is without a man " who can fill Bacon's 
shoes." 

It is doubtful if the United States has ever negotiated a treaty 
with which Senator Bacon was not entirely familiar. He had 
this information at his finger tips and in the discussions of such 
matters in executive sessions he was the one man upon whom all 
looked for a fair and impartial statement. Partisan politics was 
no part of his attitude concerning America's foreign policy, ex- 
cept in so far as his unquestioned and unflinching belief in the 
principles of the Democratic Party helped him to take a position. 
His was the broad, patriotic viewpoint. 

Senator Overman, of North Carolina, recited to-night an in- 
teresting story relating to Senator Bacon. He said: 

" Senator Bacon was responsible directly for the abolition of 
the old Senate custom of filing on seats of Members. As a 
member of the Rules Committee, he objected to the custom be- 
cause he thought it selfish and gruesome and, thanks to his objec- 
tions, the custom was abolished by the adoption of a Senate 
regulation which he proposed. 

" Until the custom was abolished by rule, it had been the 
practice of years to file on the seats of Members. For instance, 



[152; 



Death of Senator Bacon 






if a Senator was in ill health or in danger of defeat and had a 
desirable seat in the Senate Chamber, it was not considered out 
of place for an envious Member with a less desirable seat to 
' file * on the seat he hoped to obtain through misfortune to the 
colleague occupying that place. The custom had been in vogue 
for years and it had a gruesome aspect, as Senator Bacon con- 
tended." 

The custom was abolished very recently and the " files " de- 
stroyed. Senator Bacon was the first Member of the Senate to die 
following the abolition of the custom. 

Washington, February 16. — The profound sorrow occasioned 
by the death of Senator Bacon was no less manifested yester- 
day among public men in Washington than it was immediately 
following the unexpected announcement of his death Saturday. 
As the shock of the calamity subsided legislative and diplomatic 
Washington seemed to realize more than ever the extent of its 
loss and to appreciate more fully the utter impossibility of fill- 
ing the void. 

Notwithstanding the uninviting condition of Washington 
streets, owing to a heavy snowstorm, hundreds of people visited 
the Netherlands apartments to express their sorrow to the 
Senator's daughter and proffer their aid in the sad hour of 
bereavement. 

Announcement was made here to-day that owing to the death 
of Senator Bacon Vice President and Mrs. Marshall have post- 
poned indefinitely the reception they were to have given to- 
night, and that Secretary and Mrs. Bryan also have postponed 
the dinner which they planned to give to Senator and Mrs. Kern 
Wednesday evening. 

Secretary of State Bryan, who canceled an important engage- 
ment and hastened back to Washington on learning of Senator 
Bacon's death, was among the early comers. He and Senator 
Bacon were drawn close together through their efforts at mutual 
cooperation with the President in the direction of America's 
foreign policy. Each held the other in high regard, and during 
the Senator's illness Secretary Bryan manifested deep concern 
over his condition. He made daily inquiries, and it was rela- 
tive to a growing lilac sent to him by Mr. Bryan that the Senator 
made his last speech to his faithful secretary. 

Last Friday Secretary Bryan sent from the Botanic Gardens 
a beautiful white growing lilac to the hospital. Senator Bacon 

[153] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

asked that it be placed in the sick room where he could see it 
constantly. He asked Boifeuillet to write the Secretary of State 
and thank him for the flower. 

" Saturday morning, as I was about to leave the Senator, believ- 
ing his condition improved, he beckoned me back," said Col. 
Boifeuillet. "'John,' said he, 'did you write and thank Secretary 
Bryan for that flower?' I told him that I had done so. 'Well,' 
he said, 'I am glad, for I regard the flower as one of the most 
beautiful I have seen in years.'" 

The flower was removed from the hospital with the body of 
Senator Bacon, and yesterday occupied a place at the head of 
his casket, as it will to-morrow when the body is taken to the 
Capitol. 

Secretary Bryan was deeply touched when Col. Boifeuillet re- 
cited these circumstances to him to-day. He stated the lilac had 
been suggested to him by Mrs. Bryan. 

John Bassett Moore, Counselor of the State Department, and 
ex Gov. Joseph W. Folk, of Missouri, Solicitor of the State 
Department, called shortly after Secretary Bryan's departure, and 
later ex Gov. Osborne, of Wyoming, the Assistant Secretary, and 
Alvey A. Adee, Second Assistant Secretary of State, arrived. 

Associate Justice Joseph R. Lamar and Mrs. Lamar, formerly 
of Augusta, were early callers. The justice was deeply distressed 
and could not restrain his feelings as he gazed on the body. 

Some of the other callers during the day were Vice President 
Marshall, Senator Overman, Senator Kern, Senator Shively, Sena- 
tor Hitchcock, Senator Simmons, Senator Pomerene, Senator 
Burton, Senator Root, Senator Lodge, Congressmen Dudley M. 
Hughes and wife, Hardwick and wife, Bartlett and wife, Adam- 
son, Edwards and wife, Mrs. Gordon Lee, former Congressman 
William G. Brantley and wife, Census Director William J. Harris 
and wife, Joseph Gray Blount, Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, Maj. 
Blanton Winship, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry D. White and 
wife, Peter Goelet Gerry and wife, Congressman Samuel J. Trib- 
ble and wife, Mrs. Hoke Smith, Mrs. Alston Simpson, Claude N. 
Bennett, and Mrs. William Bailey Lamar. 

As these and others of his friends looked on his face, cold in 
death, they could scarcely realize that he was gone. 



[154] 



Death of Senator Bacon 



Justice Lamar talked of his wonderful physical preservation 
for a man of his years and remarked on the fact that he was a 
martyr almost to duty. He recalled having met the Senator 
scarcely three weeks ago at a reception at the German ambassa- 
dor's, and blinked away a tear as he told of how well the Senator 
looked, notwithstanding that he was in bandages " so tight he 
could scarcely breathe from a fractured rib." 

" The Senator," said the justice, " seemed to take pride in the 
fact that he was in such fine health and so active in spite of the 
injury." 

Col. Boifeuillet recounted the statement of the physicians 
made only last week that " for one of his age Senator Bacon 
was the most remarkable specimen of physical manhood they 
ever examined." This was the statement of Drs. Morgan, Har- 
din, and Hagner; after they made a most exhaustive examination 
of their patient they pronounced him as sound as a dollar in 
all his vital organs and were puzzled at the fever which they 
could not reduce. 

Senator Bacon knew his physical self as well or better than any 
man in Washington. He was scrupulously careful of his diet and 
indulged no excesses. He never ventured out on a damp street 
without overshoes, and in the Senate Chamber if he felt chilly 
he frequently wrapped his legs in a blanket rather than discom- 
fort his colleagues by demanding more heat. He was a great 
walker and in fair weather invariably took a long walk before 
breakfast, after which he would walk 2 miles to the Capitol. 
His commanding presence was well known to Washingtonians, 
who were accustomed to seeing him trudging the streets of the 
Capital wearing the cape which he used instead of an overcoat. 

Gov. Slaton tendered the State capitol of Georgia should the 
family allow Senator Bacon's body to lie in state in Atlanta on its 
way from the National Capital to Macon. His telegram to John T. 
Boifeuillet, Senator Bacon's secretary, follows: 

"Please convey to family of Senator Bacon my profoundest 
sympathy. The entire State mourns its irreparable loss. Also I 
desire to tender the capitol in the event it meets with the wishes 
of the family that the remains of this great Senator lie in state. 
Please advise me as early as possible the funeral arrangements 
in order that I may issue the appropriate proclamation." 



[155] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 



It was determined yesterday afternoon that his body should 
lie in state at the capitol in Atlanta. After a conference with 
Mrs. Willis B. Sparks, the Senator's daughter, and Senator 
Overman, Col. Boifeuillet sent the following telegram to Gov. 
Slaton : 

Hon. John M. Slaton, 

Atlanta, Ga.: 

Senator Bacon's daughter, Mrs. Sparks, asks me to convey to 
you for herself and family their heartfelt gratitude for your kind 
telegram expressing your sympathy for them in their great be- 
reavement. She was deeply touched by your tender of the 
capitol for the remains to lie in state, and she accepts your offer 
with a deep sense of appreciation of the high honor you would 
thus pay to the memory of her father. 

The funeral party will leave Washington on the Birmingham 
special, Southern Railway, Tuesday afternoon at 4.30, reaching 
Atlanta Wednesday about noon. The body can be taken direct 
from the train to the capitol and there lie in state until 4.30 
o'clock that afternoon, when it will be carried to the Southern 
train leaving for Macon about 5.30 o'clock. 

(Signed) John T. Boifeuillet. 



[156] 






PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA 

Providence hath removed from the service of the State of 
Georgia in the United States Senate the Hon. Augustus Octavius 
Bacon, a native Georgian, educated in her schools, a trustee of 
the university at the time of his death; he had for 50 years been 
a factor in her development and growth. In war and peace he 
rendered a splendid and lasting service to his people. In the 
Georgia House of Representatives, where he served for many 
years as speaker, his guiding influence is reflected in wise and 
beneficial legislation. In the Senate of the United States, to 
which he was elevated by a loving people for a longer time than 
was ever granted any other Georgian, he measured fully to the 
demands of the lofty station, and in his statesmanship, his lofty 
courtesy, and his personality he expressed the thought and senti- 
ment of his people. Called to occupy the most exalted positions 
in that body, his experience and ability were wisely trusted to 
settle aright important problems of the Nation. 

Therefore, I, John M. Slaton, governor of said State, do issue 
this, my proclamation, directing, in honor of the great Georgian 
who has been taken from us, that — 

(1) The flags on the public buildings of this State be hung at 
half-mast during the next 30 days. 

(2) Arrangements be made for the body to lie in state in the 
rotunda of the State capitol between the time of its arrival in 
Atlanta Wednesday morning until departure for Macon that 
afternoon. 

(3) Permission is given to such organizations of the National 
Guard as may desire to do so to act with the honorary escort, 
and the adjutant general is directed to make arrangements for 
such military escort and guard of honor, both in Atlanta and 
Macon, as may be desired or appropriate, and to arrange for such 
Confederate veterans as may desire to do so to participate as a 
body in the local honorary escort and guard of honor. 

(4) Offices at the State capitol be closed during the hours of 
the funeral services in Washington on Tuesday, during the time 
the body lies in state at the capitol on Wednesday, and during the 
hours of the final services in Macon on Thursday. 

[157] 



Proclamation by the Governor of Georgia 

(5) Members of the supreme court and court of appeals, heads 
of departments of State government, and all State officials in 
Atlanta will assemble in the governor's office at 10 a. m. on 
Wednesday for the purpose of attending the body on its arrival 
and again on its departure, and those of them who can do so 
will accompany the body to Macon as part of the honorary 
escort. 

Given under my hand and the great seal of the State at the 
capitol in Atlanta, this the 16th day of February, in the year of 
our Lord, 1914, and the independence of America 138. 

John M. Slaton, Governor. 

By the governor: 

Philip Cook, Secretary of State. 



[158] 



FUNERAL SERVICES IN WASHINGTON 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 17, 1914] 

By Ralph Smith 

Washington, February 17. — In the presence of one of the most 
distinguished companies ever assembled in this city, funeral 
services for the late Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon, of 
Georgia, were solemnized in the Senate of the United States to- 
day. The ceremonies were as the dead Senator would have had 
them — simple and expressive. The services of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church were read by the Right Rev. Alfred Harding, 
Bishop of Washington, following a prayer by Rev. Forrest J. 
Prettyman, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, Chaplain 
of the Senate. 

At the conclusion of the ceremonies the Senate took its third 
consecutive adjournment out of respect to the memory of Senator 
Bacon, and when the casket containing the body was removed 
from the Capitol to the Union Station it was followed by a large 
body of sorrowing Senators and friends of the deceased 
statesman. 

A special train bearing the body, the members of the imme- 
diate family, and escorts from the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives left for Macon this afternoon at 4.35, stopping at 
Atlanta to-morrow at noon, where for four hours the body will lie 
in state in the capitol. 

The ceremony marked the first state funeral held in the 
National Capitol in 10 years, and was among the few solemnized 
in the history of the Nation. 

The idea of a state funeral for the lamented Georgian origi- 
nated in a unanimous desire of his colleagues to pay fitting tribute 
to the soldier, the statesman, the lawyer, the parliamentarian, the 
diplomatist, whose untimely death they mourned. 

The services were conducted in the spirit in which they were 
conceived. They were as expressive as they were impressive — 
expressive of the regard in which the dead Senator was held by 
his associates and the Nation, and expressive also of the genuine 
sorrow occasioned by his death. 



[159] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



It was announced at the White House almost at the last moment 
that President Wilson would not attend the funeral services be- 
cause Dr. Grayson did not think it wise for the President to risk 
exposure at a time when he was recovering from a trouble- 
some cold. 

Mrs. Wilson and Miss Helen Woodrow Bones, however, occu- 
pied seats in the reserved gallery. 

All the Cabinet members attended in a body except Secretaries 
McAdoo and Houston, who are not in the city. 

The Chief Justice of the United States, a comrade in arms with 
the dead Senator as a Confederate soldier, and the Associate 
Justices of the Supreme Court attended the funeral. Associate 
Justice Hughes, of the Supreme Court, was kept away by illness. 
Admiral Dewey, who was indisposed, was represented by Rear 
Admiral Vreeland, and the Chief of Staff represented the Army. 
The Speaker and the Members of the House of Representatives, 
over 400 in number, were in the Chamber to mourn with others 
the loss of the notable Georgian. 

The Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and its secretary 
were invited guests of the United States Senate. 

The Diplomatic Corps, representing nearly every nation of the 
world, was present. 

Admission to the galleries was by card, and here sat many of 
the most notable men and women of the Nation, come to pay 
homage to the memory of Senator Bacon. 

The ceremonies were as impressive as those marking the 
inauguration of a President, and, indeed, the attendance and its 
general character was much the same. But the spirit was dif- 
ferent. Whereas an inauguration, despite its solemnity, oc- 
casions a manifestation of the festive spirit and cheer, the cere- 
monies to-day were marked by sorrow. Smiles of inauguration 
times were replaced by sober, serious, saddened countenances. 
The body of Senator Bacon was removed from the Netherlands 
apartment at half-past 9 this morning, and placed in the Marble 
Room of the Senate. Under the rules of the Senate only one 
floral offering was allowed to accompany the remains to the 
Capitol, and this was the tribute of the Senate itself. 

This was a big wreath mounted on a base of ferns, palms, and 
Easter lilies and stood at the head of the casket. The wreath, 
over 3 feet in diameter, consisted of sweet peas, lilies of the 
valley, Easter lilies, violets, palms, and American Beauty roses. 

[160] 



Funeral Services in Washington 



Just before the casket was moved into the Senate Chamber 
there arrived from the White House botanical gardens a beauti- 
ful, magnificent wreath of orchids, daisies, mignonettes, and 
hyacinths. This floral piece bore the cards of the President and 
Mrs. Wilson. The Rules Committee made a special exception 
and the wreath was placed on the casket as it rested in the 
Senate Chamber. 

The flowers in great quantities that had been sent to the late 
Senator's apartments were taken on the train this afternoon. 
The body rested in a handsome metallic casket, severely plain, 
on which was a plate containing the inscription: 

" Augustus Octavius Bacon. 

" October 20, 1839. 

" February 14, 1914." 

The casket was not opened after its arrival at the Capitol, but 
hundreds of friends of the dead Senator passed through the 
Marble Room to view the casket and the magnificent floral offer- 
ing of the Senate. A vast majority of these were friends or 
acquaintances of the Senator in life. There were few who came 
out of morbid curiositj^. 

Beside the casket in the Marble Room was a guard of honor 
composed of one veteran of the Union Army and one veteran of 
the Confederate Army. Senator Bacon was a Confederate officer. 

The southern veteran was J. B. Marshall, of Birmingham, Ala., 
and the northern veteran was Maj. James A. Abbott, of Provi- 
dence, R. I., both members of the Capitol police force. 

The Senate met at 12.45, eastern time, and a few minutes prior 
to that the casket containing the body was brought into the 
Senate Chamber from the Marble Room, accompanied by the 
committee on arrangements of the two Houses. 

In the meantime, the galleries had filled with ticket holders, 
and two minutes after the Vice President called the Senate to 
order the Doorkeeper announced the arrival of the Members of 
the House. Preceded by the Sergeant at Arms and the Clerk, 
and by Speaker Clark, the House membership filed slowly into 
the Senate. The Speaker was escorted to a seat to the left of 
the Vice President. The Sergeant at Arms and Clerk were as- 
signed to seats at the Secretary's desk, and the Members were 
given seats provided for them on the floor. 

87634°— 15 11 [161] 



Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

The ambassadors and ministers from foreign countries were 
next announced. Ambassador J. J. Jusserand, of France, dean of 
the corps, led the procession, which had gathered in the Senate 
reception room. Baron Hengelmiiller, the Austrian ambassador, 
accompanied Mr. Jusserand. Then came Count von Bernstorff, 
the German ambassador, and Viscount Chinda, the Japanese 
ambassador. They were followed by the British ambassador and 
the Marquis Cusani Confalonieri, the Italian ambassador. The 
Turkish ambassador, Youssouf Zia Pacha, and Ambassador 
Bakhmeteff, of Bussia, came next, followed by the Brazilian 
ambassador, Mr. D. da Gama, and Senor Don Juan Biano y 
Gayangos, the Spanish ambassador. 

Then came the ministers from Argentina, Belgium, Chile, 
China, Mr. Chang Tang; Colombia, Costa Bica, Cuba, Denmark, 
Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Netherlands, Nicaragua, 
Norway, Panama, Persia, Portugal, Salvador, Siam, Sweden, 
Switzerland, and Uruguay. 

Chief Justice White and the Associate Justices of the United 
States Supreme Court were announced after the diplomats had 
been seated. They occupied seats to the left of the Vice 
President. 

Then came Bear Admiral Yreeland and Maj. Gen. Leonard 
Wood, Chief of Staff of the Army. 

The President's Cabinet was announced. They had met in 
the President's room just off the Marble Hall. They were shown 
to the seats that had been reserved. 

Mrs. Willis B. Sparks, the Senator's daughter, accompanied by 
her son, Augustus 0. Bacon Sparks, and Miss Louise Curry en- 
tered the Chamber from the Vice President's room, and were 
shown to seats reserved for the family in front of the Vice 
President's desk. 

Judge William Bailey Lamar and Mrs. Lamar, of Florida, fol- 
lowed the members of the immediate family, and occupied seats 
with them. The Judge and Mrs. Lamar were warm friends of 
Senator Bacon, and at the request of Mrs. Sparks they accom- 
panied her, as did Wallace Miller, son of Judge A. L. Miller, of 
Macon, Senator Bacon's law partner for years; Judge Custis Not- 
tingham, his counsel in Macon; Mrs. Joseph B. Lamar, wife of 
Justice Lamar, of the Supreme Court, and John T. Boifeuillet, 
clerk of the Foreign Belations Committee. 



[162] 



Funeral Services in Washington 



When Vice President Marshall walked slowly to his seat and 
called the Senate to order, the short and simple services began. 
Departing from the customary form, Mr. Marshall, in a voice 
full of feeling and lowered almost to a whisper, said : 

"Senators, the hour has arrived at which, in accordance with 
the orders of the Senate, the final ceremonies over the body of 
Augustus Octavius Bacon, late a Senator from Georgia, and an 
unusually distinguished Member of this body, are to be observed. 

"In conformity to custom and in token of our common faith, 
the Chaplain of the Senate will offer a prayer to God the Father, 
God the Redeemer, and God the Comforter." 

The Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman, Chaplain of the Senate, offered 
prayer. 

The Episcopal burial service was pronounced by the Right Rev. 
Alfred Harding, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of 
Washington, and a benediction followed by the Chaplain. 

After the lapse of probably a minute the Vice President spoke 
again. He said: 

" Into the loving hands of the committees of Congress and the 
officers of the Senate we consign the mortal body of our well- 
beloved Senator to be by them conveyed to his home in the 
State of Georgia, there to be deposited in its final resting place. 
May his labors in the cause of constitutional liberty long bless 
the Republic." 

The casket remained in the Senate Chamber until 3.30 o'clock, 
when it was removed to the Union Station, where it was placed 
aboard the special train in waiting. 

W. T. Roberts and John T. Duncan, of Douglasville, Ga., who 
were in Senator Bacon's command during the war, arrived in 
Washington this morning to attend the funeral. They accom- 
panied the remains to Georgia. 

Custis Nottingham, postmaster of Macon, and Wallace Miller, 
representing the Bar Association of Macon, arrived yesterday. 

Senator Overman, acting chairman of the Senate committee 
and of the joint committee on arrangement, in the absence of 
Senator Hoke Smith, was forbidden at the last minute to make 
the trip to Georgia. The Senator recently underwent an opera- 
tion for appendicitis, and this morning he awoke with a heavy 
cold and an attack of rheumatism, from which he sometimes 
suffers. In spite of his physicians' warning to remain indoors, 

[163] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Mr. Overman hastened to the Capitol and directed the final ar- 
rangement until train time. He abandoned, however, the idea of 
accompanying the remains to Georgia. Senator Hoke Smith will 
join the committee in Atlanta. 

The Georgia congressional delegation, through Congressman 
Bartlett, wired to Macon for its floral offering for the funeral of 
Senator Bacon. It was decided unanimously that the offering 
should represent the coat of arms of the State of Georgia — an 
arch representing the Constitution, supported by three pillars 
representing wisdom, justice, and moderation. 



[164] 






BODY IN STATE AT ATLANTA, GA. 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 18, 1914] 

Reposing in a massive mahogany case, the casket containing 
the body of the late Senator Augustus Octavius Bacon arrived 
in Atlanta at 11.30 o'clock Wednesday morning from Washing- 
ton, accompanied by members of the dead Senator's immediate 
family and an honorary escort of distinguished Senators and 
Congressmen, representing the United States Congress. 

The train was met at the Terminal Station by members of the 
governor's staff, the Fifth Regiment of State Militia, statehouse 
officers, the mayor of Atlanta, and the members of the city 
council. 

The casket, wreathed in flowers, the tributes of the President 
of the United States and Mrs. Wilson and the membership of the 
United States Senate, was lifted tenderly from the private car 
" Republic," in which it was brought to Atlanta, and removed to 
the capitol, where it will lie in state until 4.30 o'clock, when the 
journey to Macon will be resumed. 

The procession to the capitol was one of the most impressive 
ever seen in Atlanta, and the crowds that lined the streets bowed 
•their heads in respectful silence as the cortege proceeded from 
the station. 

The trip from Washington was uneventful, marked only by the 
sorrow of the dead Senator's loved ones and colleagues aboard 
the train. Those in the party were: Mrs. Willis B. Sparks, 
daughter of the dead Senator; her son, A. 0. Bacon Sparks, a law 
student at the University of Georgia; Miss Louise Curry, a student 
at Hollins College, Virginia; Col. John T. Boifeuillet, Judge Custis 
Nottingham, and Wallace Miller. These persons traveled in the 
private car "Republic." 

In the Pullman car " Melfort " were the members of the Senate 
committee — Mr. Fletcher, of Florida; Mr. Pomerene, of Ohio; 
Mr. Thomas, of Colorado; Mr. Vardaman, of Mississippi; Mr. 
Martine, of New Jersey; Mr. Gallinger, of New Hampshire; Mr. 
Nelson, of Minnesota; Mr. Brandegee, of Connecticut; Mr. Page, 
of Vermont; Mr. Baker, of South Carolina, Secretary of the 

[165] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Senate; Col. Charles P. Higgins, of St. Louis, Sergeant at Arms of 
the Senate. 

Former Gov. Joseph W. Folk, of Missouri, Solicitor of the State 
Department, was also in this car as the personal representative 
of the President and Secretary of State Bryan, bearing a personal 
message of condolence to the widow and members of the late 
Senator's family. 

The Pullman car " Olympic " brought the committee from the 
House of Representatives — Congressman Bartlett, of the sixth, 
dean of the Georgia delegation; Congressman Adamson, of the 
fourth; Congressman Hardwick, of the tenth; Congressman Bell, 
of the ninth; Congressman Tribble, of the eighth; Congressman 
Howard, of the fifth; Congressman Hughes, of the twelfth; Con- 
gressman Walker, of the eleventh; Congressman Park, of the 
second; Congressman Prouty, of Iowa; Congressman Ferris, of 
Oklahoma; James L. Fort, of Georgia, Acting Sergeant at Arms of 
the House. 

Senator Hoke Smith boarded the train at Chamblee, and Sena- 
tor Tillman, of South Carolina, met the party at the Terminal 
Station. 

It seemed as if all of Atlanta and half of Georgia had gathered 
at the Terminal Station to see the body of Senator Bacon brought 
home to his own people. 

For an hour before the train arrived a steady stream of citizens 
poured down Mitchell Street and banked in great crowds about 
the big plaza. The station and neighboring hotels and business 
houses were thick with men and women peering from doors and 
windows and swarming out upon the roofs. 

From old men in tattered Confederate uniforms to little fel- 
lows in cadet gray, the city was there to welcome in sorrow 
their soldier and statesman. 

Inside the station two cadet corps, Marist College and the 
Georgia Military Academy, were formed in two long lines from 
the entrance to trains to the sunny plaza without and the black 
funeral car waiting for its burden. A detail of six enlisted men 
from the Seventeenth Infantry took the casket as it was borne 
from the tracks below on an elevator. They marched out be- 
tween the two lines of cadets. Following them came the funeral 
party from Washington, United States Senators and Congressmen, 
prominent personages, all in the counsels of the Nation and warm 



[166] 



Body in State at Atlanta, Ga. 



personal friends of the dead man. Members of city council 
came next. 

Around the funeral car outside were banked the veterans, sev- 
eral of whom were members of Senator Bacon's old regiment, 
the Ninth Georgia. They had been chatting quietly among them- 
selves, recalling the days when they fought under the Stars and 
Bars side by side with the comrade now gone before them. Now 
and then one would glance fondly at the moldy banner of red 
and blue wrapped around a battered stick. It was the flag of 
Camp Walker, the same under which Senator Bacon served. 

There was little delay about starting the procession. Through 
crowds so thick they were pressed close against the curbing and 
walls a platoon of 20 mounted policemen under Chief of Police 
Beavers started down Mitchell Street. 

Already the band of the Seventeenth had broken into the 
measured strains of the funeral march. Close behind the city 
officers came the Begulars and the militia. 

The slow, deep-toned notes of Chopin boomed out over the 
tremendous crowd, all silent, standing there with bared heads in 
the bright sun of noon. 

The Seventeenth and the Fifth proceeded at a slow pace down 
Mitchell Street, marching at shoulder arms, 12 abreast. Close 
behind them came the junior soldiers, the boys of Marist College 
and Georgia Military Academy. 

The Begulars, the militia, and the school boys were followed 
by the old veterans. Thirty-two of them marched slowly ahead 
of the funeral car. On either side of the hearse were members 
of the governor's staff and two lines of veterans. More old 
soldiers followed. 

On the heels of the veterans came the members of the Macon 
Bar Association, about 25 in number, and representatives of the 
Macon Board of Education. The city council of Atlanta, headed 
by Mayor Woodward and Alderman Nutting, came just ahead of 
the members of the Atlanta Bar Association. 

Following were the members of the committee representing 
the Atlanta Bar Association: A. C. King, A. G. Powell, Morris 
Brandon, Beuben B. Arnold, H. C. Peeples, Burton Smith, Hooper 
Alexander, E. W. Born, J. W. Bachman, Van Astor Batchelor, 
Frampton E. Ellis, Harrison Jones, Hollins N. Bandolph, Shepard 
Bryan, Harold Hirsch, Walter T. Colquitt, C. B. Shelton, Sam Dick, 



[167] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Albert Howell, jr., Jerome R. Moore, W. A. Fuller, Leonard Haas, 
Sam D. Hewlett, Lamar Hill, Arminius Wright, A. J. Orme, James 
L. Key, Hughes Spalding, Edgar Latham, John D. Little, Dan 
McDougald, Walter 0. Marshburn, E. R. Rlack, Walter McElreath, 
Sanders McDaniel, James M. Napier, Henry A. Newman, Winfield 
P. Jones, J. H. Porter, Ronald Ransom, Alex W. Smith, jr., John Y. 
Smith, W. C. Latimer, George Westmoreland, W. D. Ellis, jr., Lee 
M. Jordan, Cam D. Dorsey, and Asa W. Candler, jr. 

The committee from the Macon Bar Association was as follows : 
Charles H. Hall, jr., chairman, Judge N. E. Harris, Judge H. A. 
Mathews, Judge Robert Hodges, Dupont Guerry, Joe Hill Hall, 
R. C. Jordan, George S. Jones, R. A. Nisbet, Alexander Akerman, 
Walter Defore, W. D. McNeil, R. K. Hines, H. F. Strohecker, F. R. 
Martin, O. A. Park, J. E. Hall, B. J. Fowler, Claud Estes, and A. L. 
Dasher. 

Following was the escort from the board of trustees of the 
State University: Judge Hamilton McWTiorter, Dr. Nathaniel E. 
Harris, Judge George F. Gober, Col. William E. Simmons, Clark 
Howell, John T. Newton, Judge E. H. Callaway, John W. Bennett, 
Gen. Peter W. Meldrim, and B. S. Miller. 

Last followed carriages filled with members of the funeral 
party and several prominent Atlanta citizens. 

The procession was a long one. The line of march was along 
Mitchell Street to Whitehall to Hunter Street to the capitol. So 
long was the parade that the last carriage had hardly left the 
station when the mounted officers in front were breasting the 
Hunter Street hill to the capitol. 

Soldiers of the Seventeenth formed in phalanxes along Wash- 
ington Street, while the Fifth Regiment threw out a long line 
from the steps on the Washington Street entrance to the rotunda. 

As the funeral car stopped outside the statehouse Gov. Slaton 
with uncovered head preceded the casket into the capitol. The 
rotunda was dim lit and green with palms. John T. Boifeuillet, 
Senator Bacon's secretary, stood by the head of the casket as it 
was placed in the center of the rotunda. 

Two monster floral wreaths were on top. Mr. Boifeuillet had 
one removed and gently opened the casket. The marble coun- 
tenance of the dead Senator was revealed. 

Outside, the long lines of soldiers stood at present arms. The 
band played " Nearer My God to Thee." 



[168] 



Body in State at Atlanta, Ga. 



Two abreast the members of the honorary escort from Wash- 
ington filed by the casket and passed out the Hunter Street en- 
trance. Mr. Boifeuillet stood by the head of the casket while 
men and women walked slowly past and gazed down at the dead 
man's face. 

The old veteran with the banner stopped for a moment. He 
asked Mr. Boifeuillet a question and the latter nodded. The 
Confederate flag was placed at the head of the casket and there 
beneath its folds Senator Bacon's body reposed while such a 
crowd of men and women and little children passed by as have 
seldom gathered to do honor to a citizen. 

Four officers of the governor's staff were on guard from 12 to 
1 o'clock; four officers of the Georgia Military Academy Cadet 
Corps took their places from 1 to 2 o'clock; as guard during the 
next hour the Fifth Infantry furnished four guards; and from 
3 to 4 o'clock four officers of the Marist College Cadet Corps 
performed that honor duty. 

No ceremony was held in Atlanta. The funeral service and 
prayer pronounced in the Senate Chamber at Washington Tues- 
day was repeated in Christ Church, Macon, Thursday morning, 
and later at Bose Hill Cemetery. In Atlanta no word was 
said over the body of the lamented Senator. The funeral escort 
from the railway station to the capitol, the guard of honor over 
the remains as they lay in state, and the funeral procession from 
the capitol back to the railway station are part of Georgia's 
silent reverence offered here. In that same silence thousands 
looked for the last time on the face of Mr. Bacon. 

CoL Charles P. Higgins, the Senate's Sergeant at Arms, in 
general charge of all arrangements for the funeral, was assisted 
en route to Atlanta by J. F. Jenkins, passenger agent of the 
Southern. The perfection of detail that marked the ceremonies 
in the United States Senate yesterday was maintained on the 
homeward journey, and Col. Higgins was congratulated generally 
on the clocklike precision with which the desires of the com- 
mittee were carried out. 



[169] 



BURIAL AT MACON, GA. 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 19, 1914] 

By Ralph Smith 

Macon, Ga., February 19. — Hundreds of lifelong friends gath- 
ered to-day in this city, his old home, to do homage to the mem- 
ory of the late Senator Augustus 0. Bacon. Despite a. heavy 
rain, which started early this morning and continued throughout 
the services, thousands lined the streets and stood uncovered 
while the funeral procession passed. 

The body of the late Senator, which reached here at 8.30 
o'clock last night, lay in state in the city hall until the hour set 
for the funeral. It then was borne tenderly to Christ Episcopal 
Church, where the Senator and his family had worshipped for 
many years. Here brief funeral services were conducted by the 
rector, Rev. John H. Bunting. 

The body was borne to Rose Hill Cemetery, and while scores 
of the Nation's leaders looked on the flower-banked bier was 
lowered into a grave next to that of the late Senator's oldest son, 
Augustus, jr. 

Because of the small seating capacity of Christ Church hun- 
dreds of those who had known and loved the late Senator were 
turned away. These lined the streets, and stood with heads 
bared while the cortege passed. 

All Macon joined in paying tribute to her honored son. Every 
school, the city hall, and practically all business establishments 
were closed during the hour of the funeral. 

Robert C. Alston, president of the Georgia Bar Association, 
appointed the following committee to attend the funeral of 
Senator Bacon: Judge Samuel B. Adams, of Savannah; Judge 
Andrew J. Cobb, of Athens; Col. Walter A. Harris, of Macon; 
Burton Smith, of Atlanta; Judge Joel Branham, of Rome; Reuben 
R. Arnold, of Atlanta; Judge John S. Candler, of Atlanta; John 
E. Donnelson, of Bainbridge; J. H. Fulbright, of Waynesboro; 
H. A. Hall, of Newnan. Senator Bacon had been a member of 
the association from its earliest days. 



[170] 



Burial at Macon, Ga. 



Heading the funeral procession was a platoon of Macon police, 
followed by a military detail composed of members of the 
Hussars, Volunteers, and Floyd Rifles, Macon's three military 
organizations. 

Mayor Bridges Smith and members of the city council followed 
in carriages and automobiles. Twenty members of the Macon 
Bar Association were next in order. Confederate veterans, a 
half hundred in number, who had obeyed the commands of the 
Senator during the war, were next in line. 

Next, with bowed heads, came 10 United States Senators and 
the Georgia delegation in the House appointed as a committee 
from Washington to accompany the body on a special train from 
the National Capital to Macon. 

Gov. John M. Slaton and his staff followed, preceding the pall- 
bearers, who were chosen from the close business associates of 
Senator Bacon in this city. Several hundred Masons followed in 
carriages. The hearse preceded the family carriages, which con- 
cluded the procession. 

The services at the church were brief. The minister spoke in 
fond tribute of the late Senator, and the church choir sang of 
"Peace, Perfect Peace" and another favorite hymn of the 
Senator's, "Hark, Hark, My Soul, Angelic Voices Swelling." 

The pallbearers, Roland Ellis, Minter Wimberly, R. C. Jordan, 
Emory Winship, L. P. Hillyer, John T. Boifeuillet, Custis Notting- 
ham, and Wallace Miller, all of Macon, bore the casket to the 
hearse, and the funeral procession proceeded to Rose Hill Ceme- 
tery between two long lines of school children, many of whom 
had known Senator Bacon, and thousands of other admirers. 

Macon Lodge of Masons, of which Senator Bacon had been a 
member for over 40 years, said the last rites while sorrowing 
hundreds looked on and the body was gently lowered to its 
final resting place. 

Senator Bacon was a member of Macon Lodge of Masons No. 3, 
one of the oldest in the country, and the one which entertained 
Gen. Lafayette here several years after the Revolutionary War. 

A message of sympathy and condolence from President Wilson 
and Secretary of State Bryan, penned in the hand of the latter, 
was delivered to Mrs. A. 0. Bacon, widow of the lamented Sena- 
tor, last night shortly after the arrival of the funeral train in 
Macon. The message was delivered in person by Gov. Joseph W. 



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Memorial Addresses : Senator Bacon 

Folk, of Missouri, Solicitor of the State Department, who was 
dispatched on the mission by the Secretary of State. Gov. Folk 
came with the committee of Senators. 
The message follows: 

State Department, 
Washington, February 17. 

My Dear Mrs. Bacon: Being prevented by important public 
business from accompanying your husband's remains to Georgia, 
I have, at the President's direction, designated Gov. Folk, Solicitor 
of the State Department, to deliver to you a message of con- 
dolence and sympathy. 

During the past year I have been in intimate association with 
the Senator, and my affection for him grew, as did my apprecia- 
tion of his great ability, his tireless industry, and his conscien- 
tious devotion to duty. He was a tower of strength to the 
executive department as well as to the Senate, and will be missed 
by all who are connected with the administration, especially by 
those who deal with foreign affairs. 

His death is a personal loss and I share your sorrow. But 
more soothing than any words must be the consolation that you 
find in the fact that he rendered a large and conspicuous service 
to his country and won the respect and admiration of all who 
were fortunate enough to be brought into official relations with 
him. 

His life was rich in fruitage and crowned with that "loving 
favor" which is rather to be chosen than silver and gold. His 
good name and his wide-extended fame are to you a sacred 
possession, and to his children and grandchildren a priceless 
heritage. 

Sincerely, yours, 

(Signed) William Jennings Bryan. 

To Mrs. A. 0. Bacon, 

Macon, Ga. 



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TRIBUTES 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 15, 1914] 

By Ralph Smith 

Washington, D. C, February Ik. — When President Wilson 
heard of Senator Bacon's death he was sitting at his typewriter. 
He wrote the following statement on his machine and issued it 
to the press: 

"All who knew Senator Bacon will sincerely deplore his death. 
It deprives the Senate of one of its oldest and most experienced 
Members, a man who held with something like reverence to the 
traditions of the great body of which he was so long a part and 
who sought in all that he did to maintain its standards of states- 
manship and service. The great State of Georgia will greatly 
miss her distinguished son and servant. My own association 
with him had been of the most cordial, and, to me, helpful sort. 
I particularly profited by his experience in foreign affairs." 

The expression of President Wilson on the death of Senator 
Bacon is only one of hundreds of sympathetic statements that 
could be heard everywhere to-night in Washington. 

Vice President Marshall said: 

"Senator Bacon was one of the most lovable and capable men 
in the Senate. I had come to think a great deal of him and to 
pay respect to his opinions. He always had the facts to back up 
his judgment." 

John Bassett Moore, Counselor of the State Department and 
Acting Secretary in the absence of Mr. Bryan, said to-night: 

" Senator Bacon was a man of rare ability and profound knowl- 
edge of American affairs, both foreign and domestic. His death 
is a great loss both to the Senate and the country. His place will 
be hard to fill." 

Senator Tillman, who was a warm personal friend of Senator 
Bacon, wired Vice President Marshall from Atlanta, asking that 
he be named on the committee to pay a last tribute to his friend. 
The honorable South Carolinian, who is loved in Georgia and 
loves Georgians almost as well as South Carolinians, has been 
always on terms of intimate cordiality with Georgia's Senators. 
When Senator Clay died Mr. Tillman pulled himself out of a 
sick bed to attend the funeral at Marietta, and now, though he 

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Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

is under the care of physicians, he will follow Georgia's senior 
Senator to the grave. 

Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts, the ranking 
Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was 
affected visibly by the news of Mr. Bacon's death. He and the 
Georgian were friends and mutual admirers for years. During 
the illness of Senator Bacon no one inquired more regularly 
about his condition than did Mr. Lodge. 

Mr. Lodge to-night said: 

"A great loss has been sustained by the Nation in the death of 
Senator Bacon." 

Senator Elihu Root, of New York, also a member of the Foreign 
Relations Committee and former Secretary of State, was another 
admirer and friend of the Georgian, who expressed profound 
regret at his death. 

Senator Overman, of North Carolina, who served for many 
years on the Rules and Judiciary Committees of the Senate with 
Senator Bacon, declared that the Senate and the Democratic Party 
had lost a man in the death of Senator Bacon whose place it 
would be hard to fill. 

Senator Overman said: 

"He was a most useful Senator. I do not believe there was his 
equal in the Senate on matters relating to the foreign policy of 
the United States, nor was there a Senator so well informed con- 
cerning the rules of the Senate. And Senator Bacon not only was 
equipped with knowledge and information, he was a great debater 
and could defend a position once he took it. Personally, I loved 
him and I feel that I have lost a true friend." 

William Schley Howard, Congressman from the fifth district, 
who is a first cousin of Senator Bacon on his mother's side, was 
deeply affected by the death of his distinguished relative, and to- 
night he made the following statement: 

" Senator Bacon was one of the foremost men in the United 
States Senate. His death is a great loss to the Nation at this 
critical period in its foreign affairs. No man in the country was 
more conversant with our foreign relations than was Senator 
Bacon. 

"The entire Georgia delegation is deeply grieved over his 
death. The loss of his wise counsel, his great influence, his 
unflinching devotion to his State, and his great experience in 
national affairs is irreparable. 



[174] 



Tributes 



" Georgians never bestowed honors upon one of her favorite 
sons who wore them more gracefully or reflected more honor 
upon them than did Senator Bacon. 

"He was my close kinsman. My deep affection for him will 
be everlasting, and his death takes out of my life one who has 
been as considerate of my welfare as a father would have been 
of his son." 

Congressman Dudley M. Hughes, of the twelfth district, said: 

"The death of Senator Bacon is a national calamity. He was 
a statesman in the very highest meaning of the word. Georgia 
has lost her greatest son. He was a faithful friend. I say this 
after an intimacy of 35 years." 

Bepresentative Charles L. Bartlett, of the sixth district, whose 
fellow townsman the Senator was, was shocked at his death. He 
said to-night: 

"I had known Senator Bacon since I was a boy in college, and 
I entertained for him always the highest admiration. He was a 
remarkable man, and occupied a justly conspicuous place in the 
councils of his party and in the affections of his friends. His 
standing in the Senate was a credit to his State and to the Nation. 
His death will prove a great loss. His place will be hard to fill. 
His familiarity with the foreign policy of the United States and 
his devotion to the administration were such as to make his 
service well nigh indispensable." 

Congressman Adamson said: 

" Senator Bacon was a great man, and his public life has re- 
flected credit and glory on our State. I keenly regret his sudden 
death, and am sure that his loss will be felt in the Senate and 
by the people of Georgia." 

Congressman Hardwick said: 

" I was shocked and grieved beyond measure to learn of Sena- 
tor Bacon's death. I had understood and hoped, with his other 
friends, that he was on the road to recovery. His record in the 
Senate was one of which all Georgians should feel proud, and I 
join with my colleagues in mourning his death, which I feel is a 
great loss to the State of Georgia." 

Congressman Bell shared with others the grief at the death of 
Senator Bacon. He said: 

"A great Senator, an able lawyer and statesman passed away 
when Senator Bacon died. His loyalty to duty, his service to his 
State and the Nation were appreciated by those who were fa- 
miliar with his work in the Senate." 



[175] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Congressman Tribble said: 

"I was pained to learn that Senator Bacon was dead. In my 
association with him in Washington I had learned to love and 
admire him as a man of unusual ability and sterling loyalty. He 
was a great credit to our State, and his services were entitled to 
the appreciation they received." 

Congressman Edwards, of the first district, said: 

"In the death of Senator Bacon Georgia has lost one of her first 
citizens and the country has lost one of its ablest and truest 
statesmen. He was of great service and value to the Democratic 
Party and to the administration in his work as chairman of the 
Foreign Relations Committee and his loss will be felt." 

Congressman Park, of the second district, said: 

" Senator Bacon was a great and good man, and I am sincerely 
sorry at his death. In the short time that I have been in Wash- 
ington I was impressed with Senator Bacon's high rank and 
influence in the Senate. I was proud of him as a Georgian and I 
deeply regret his death." 

Congressman Walker, of the eleventh, said: 

" The death of Senator Bacon was untimely and unexpected. 
We had all hoped that his illness was only temporary and that 
he would be out again soon and in the Senate, where we were 
accustomed to seeing him daily at his post of duty. He was a 
valuable Senator to the Nation as a whole and to the people of 
Georgia. He enjoyed the confidence and respect of his col- 
leagues in the Senate, as he did of the people of Georgia and of 
others who knew him." 

Congressmen Crisp and Lee were not in the city to-day. The 
former has gone west for his health and Mr. Lee will join the 
funeral party in Atlanta. 

Washington, February 16. — The grief occasioned in Washing- 
ton by the Senator's death was reflected throughout the Nation, 
and yesterday Mrs. Sparks and Col. Boifeuillet received hundreds 
of telegrams from sorrowing friends. Among those received 
were the following: 

Chancellor David C. Barrow, of the State university, of which 
Senator Bacon was an alumnus and a trustee: 

" I am deeply distressed over the loss of Senator Bacon. The 
public laments the statesman, his friends the man." 

[176] 



Tributes 

Herbert Clay, son of former Senator A. S. Clay : 

" My father's best friend has gone to join him. It is the 
Nation's loss. Please accept my deep sympathy." 

Mayor L. H. Chappell, of Columbus: 

"America has sustained a great loss." 

Congressman Charles R. Crisp, from Colorado Springs: 

" Georgia and the Nation has lost a great statesman. Accept 
my sincerest sympathy." 

Rev. W. L. Pickard, Savannah: 

" Georgia mourns one of her most illustrious sons." 

L. J. Harris, Albany: 

" Senator Racon's death is a great national loss." 

Col. Peter W. Meldrim, Savannah: 

" Inexpressibly shocked at the sad news. Please extend my 
sincerest sympathy to the family." 

Judge Hamilton McWhorter, Athens: 

" Senator Racon's death is a distinct loss to the entire country." 

T. D. Tinsley, Macon : 

"A great man has fallen and a Nation mourns." 

Judge N. A. Morris, Marietta: 

" Senator Racon's death is a distinct loss to the entire Nation." 

Fermor Rarrett, Tocca: 

" For some time to come neither Georgia, the Union, nor civi- 
lization will appreciate their loss in Senator Racon's death." 

Roykin Wright, Augusta: 

'* The State of Georgia and the country have lost a great Sena- 
tor and citizen." 

Henry Howard, St. Louis, Mo. : 

" The death of the captain has broken my heart." 

Mr. Howard served in Senator Racon's command during the 
war. 

David C. Rarrow, collector of the port of Savannah, and son 
of former Senator Pope Rarrow: 

" Wire me the funeral arrangements. I would like to attend 
and accompany the Senator's body to its grave. All of my 
father's children feel the sincerest grief at the death of his most 
devoted, lifelong friend." 

87634°— 15 12 [177] 






Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 

W. S. West, Valdosta : 

" In the death of Senator Bacon the Nation loses a great 
publicist and an illustrious statesman." 

Calvin M. Hitch, Atlanta: 

" In the death of Senator Bacon I have lost my best friend." 

Joseph K. Ohl, of New York : 

" Your sorrow, my sorrow. For nearly 20 years we were 
thrown together most intimately. His never-failing friendship 
was one of my most valued possessions." 

0. H. B. Bloodworth and son, Forsyth : 

"In common with thousands all over the Union we are grief- 
stricken over the death of Senator Bacon. The Nation mourns, 
but the grief is most poignant to those of us who knew and loved 
him. The country could ill afford to lose his safe counsels and 
the benefit of his wisdom and statesmanship." 

Reyburn G. Clay, of Marietta : 

" The Nation has sustained a great loss." 

Mayor H. A. Tarver, Albany: 

"Am crushed by the news of Senator Bacon's death. A great 
Senator and true man has gone to his reward." 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 15, 1914] 

• Following the news of Senator A. 0. Bacon's death in a Wash- 
ington hospital Saturday afternoon, expressions of profoundest 
regret have been voiced by Senator Hoke Smith, his colleague in 
the Senate, by Cabinet members in Atlanta, by Gov. Slaton, and 
by men in both public and private life who entertained the 
deepest love and respect for the dead man. 

Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo, Secretary of Agriculture 
Houston, and Comptroller of Currency John Skelton Williams, 
all of whom received the sad news of the Senator's death while 
attending the regional bank hearing in Atlanta, were greatly 
shocked and spoke in highest terms of the man they had known 
personally in the Capital. 

Senator Hoke Smith and Gov. John M. Slaton, both of whom 
were to have been leading speakers at the banquet tendered the 
three distinguished visitors Saturday evening, informed Toast- 
master Robert F. Maddox that they would be forced to decline 
in consideration of the sudden death of Senator Bacon. Both 
Senator Smith and Gov. Slaton were warm personal friends of 
Senator Bacon and feel his loss greatly. 

[178] 



Tributes 

In his letter to Toastmaster Maddox, Gov. Slaton paid tribute 
to Senator Bacon as a statesman and a man whom he had known 
long and intimately. He wrote : 

Hon. Robert F. Maddox, 

City. 

Dear Mr. Maddox: I returned from Savannah this morning in 
order that I might have the privilege of welcoming the Secretary 
of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Comptroller 
of the Currency. One is a native Georgian and the other gen- 
tlemen are southern born, and I anticipated the pleasure of 
expressing to them the pride all Georgians felt in their exaltation 
to high official position in the councils of the Nation. 

I am prevented, however, from attendance by the death of 
Hon. A. O. Bacon, one of the United States Senators from Georgia. 
He was speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives for 
16 years, and had been elected for four consecutive terms to 
represent the sovereignty of Georgia in the United States Senate. 
An unswerving adherent of principle amidst the changes of 
political life, a Georgia gentleman, a Senator true to the splendid 
traditions of that august body in the loftiest sense, his loss is 
irreparable to the Nation and State. 

For years he was my friend and his death is a personal 
bereavement. 

"I trust you will express my regrets to our distinguished guests. 
The unexpected situation will be accepted as the excuse for my 
absence, especially in view of the official position I occupy. 
Very truly, yours, 

John M. Slaton. 

The news of the death of Senator Bacon, of Georgia, reached 
Atlanta a few minutes before the reserve bank organization com- 
mittee convened the afternoon hearing in the Federal building. 

To these high Government officials the news was particularly 
shocking. They were personally acquainted with Senator Bacon, 
and in their official capacities came in frequent contact with him 
at Washington. 

Each of the members of the committee gave to The Journal a 
few words of appreciation of the Senator's high ability and 
character. 

Mr. McAdoo, the Secretary of the Treasury, and chairman of 
the committee, said: 

" Senator Bacon was a gentleman of the old school, and a 
statesman of high type. The party and the Nation lose a public 
servant of great patriotism and ability." 

[179] 



Memorial Addresses: Senator Bacon 



Mr. Houston, the Secretary of Agriculture, said: 

" I am shocked and grieved to hear of Senator Bacon's death. 
He had the respect of the Senate and of the Nation in a very 
high degree. Through a long and distinguished career he was 
one of the leaders of the party and the Nation. We must all 
mourn his loss." 

Mr. Williams, the Comptroller of the Currency, said : 

" Senator Bacon represented a high type of statesman. He 
was a classical scholar, a man of lofty ideals and rare refine- 
ment, a charming exponent of the old life in the South. He has 
been in his more active days a strong force and a healthy in- 
fluence in the councils of the Nation." 

Senator Hoke Smith was interrupted at luncheon in the Pied- 
mont Hotel with the information that Senator Bacon had just 
died. He was evidently much shocked. 

" I am greatly distressed by this," he said, after a pause. " Pri- 
vate telegrams that I received last night indicated that he was 
better. 

" Senator Bacon was a great Senator. He not only represented 
the State, but he represented the South and the entire Nation. 
The death of no other Senator could have caused to the Demo- 
cratic Party so serious a loss. It is hard to estimate the value 
of the services he was rendering. The place he occupied in the 
Senate with his 18 years -ofvexperience can not be filled." 

[From the Atlanta Journal of Feb. 18, 1914] 

The general council of the city met in special session Thursday 
morning at the call of Mayor Woodward for the purpose of pay- 
ing homage to the late Senator A. 0. Bacon. Besolutions were 
adopted expressing appreciation of Senator Bacon's high ability 
and character and mourning his loss. The council then ad- 
journed and went in a body to the Terminal Station to meet the 
body of the Senator on its arrival from Washington and to join 
in the procession which accompanied the body to the State 
capitol. 

The resolutions, introduced by Alderman J. H. Nutting, read as 
follows : 

" Resolved by the mayor and general council, That this body 
has learned with sincere sorrow and deep regret of the death 
of Hon. A. O. Bacon, senior Senator from Georgia in the National 
Congress. 

"Resolved further, That in the death of Senator Bacon 
Georgia has lost one of her most distinguished sons and the whole 



[180] 



Tributes 



country a faithful and devoted public servant. Senator Bacon 
not only served his State with signal ability in time of peace, 
but in the trying days of war he was no less faithful. He has 
left a record that reflects luster on the State and a name and fame 
that will grow brighter and more illustrious as time goes on. 

"Resolved, That as a mark of respect to the distinguished dead 
this body do now adjourn for the purpose of taking part in the 
ceremonies attendant upon the arrival of the body from the 
National Capital. 

"Resolved further, That a copy of these resolutions be fur- 
nished the family by the clerk of council." 

[From the Washington (D. C.) Post of Apr. 6, 1914] 

Bogota, Colombia, April 5. — The Assembly of the Department 
of Santander has adopted a resolution of sympathy on the death 
of United States Senator Bacon, of Georgia. This resolution is 
to be sent to the President of Colombia, and later through the 
minister of foreign affairs to the American minister at Bogota for 
transmission to the United States Government. 

The resolution reads: 

" The Assembly of the Department of Santander, interpreting 
the patriotic sentiments of the worthy people it represents, and 
considering the expression of its thanks and appreciation an act 
of justice to those who have labored or labor for the supreme 
rights of the country and humanity, deeply regrets the death of 
the distinguished North American Senator, Mr. Augustus Octa- 
vius Bacon, who placed his highest abilities at the service of 
Colombia and weak nations, battling for her in the Congress of 
his country in connection with the events that took place in 
Panama. 

" Resolved, That this resolution be communicated to the Presi- 
dent of the Republic for transmission through the Minister for 
Foreign Affairs to the diplomatic representative of the United 
States in Bogota, in order that the latter may forward it to his 
Government." 



[181] 



